The Write Stuff: A Collector's Guide to Inkwells, Fountain Pens, and Desk Accessories

The first book designed to supplement and support the fast-growing fountain pen collectibles hobby. Provides historical information, detailed item descriptions, and values for a wide variety of desk accessories -- a category not covered in other books focused on writing implements.

It's not just what you write, it's what you write it with. In a world where e-mailing and word processing are the new norm, nostalgia for fountain pens, inkwells, and other erstwhile desk accessories is on the rise. What's more satisfactory--signing a letter with a Bic or a black rubber gold-nibbed 1950s Parker Duofold? For lovers of pen and ink, The Write Stuff is an informative book on the history of ink and ink containers, pen making, and collecting.

Filled with black-and-white photographs and illustrated advertisements (plus a 31-page full-color section), The Write Stuff takes us through the advent of the writing trade up to the rediscovery of the fountain pen in the 1980s. Beginning with Egyptian scribes and lasting until the Middle Ages, inkwells were plain and serviceable and pens made from reeds or feathers. With the Renaissance, inkwells became ornate and were often made of precious metals or delicate porcelain (for the most part, only the wealthy could read and write). The steel pen debuted in the mid-1700s, and not until the 20th century did fountain pens, which are now sought-after collectibles, appear. Inkwells and desk accessories are often of more value than fountain pens, but the pens invoke a fond sentiment for less-hurried times--and these days, represent style, prestige, and power.

Written by Ray and Bevy Jaegers, longtime pen and inkwell collectors, The Write Stuff tends to focus more on the history of the inkwells, pens, and their makers than on how to collect or on the going rate for these collectibles. But they do make you want to push that keyboard aside and reach for a thick sheet of combed cotton paper, a cut crystal inkwell, and a white goose quill. --Dana Van Nest