This volume is the second of a projected 2-volume work, an annotated chronological list of US patents, designs, and trademarks for fountain pens, nibs, penmaking machinery, penholders, mechanical pencils, wooden pencils, inks, ink bottles, inkwells, inkstands, erasers, blotters, pencil sharpeners, and other writing instruments and implements. It consists of three chapters, "Patents", "Designs", and "Trademarks", including those for pens made by Carey, Carter, Chilton, Crocker, Holland, Kraker, Mabie Todd & Co., Montblanc, Namiki, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot, Sheaffer, Swan, Wahl Eversharp, Waterman, Wearever, Wirt, etc. There is an extensive "Bibliography", and an "Index" section to help locate penmakers, companies, and pen mechanisms. There is a frontispiece illustration of a bandless Parker Duofold facing the title page, and images are placed at the beginning of every chapter and section. The book measures 8 ¾" x 11 ½", is 320 pages long and weighs 3 lbs. It is printed on opaque, acid-free, archival 80 lb. paper with 12-pt Garamond type, which is very reader-friendly for tired, old eyes. It is bound in Smythe-sewn signatures between hardback covers for maximum archival longevity. The pages lay flat for easy reading and consultation when the book is opened up and laid down on a desk. Every copy is inscribed with an edition number in scarlet ink on the Colophon page at the back of the book. A specially designed and custom-fitted cardboard box was made for shipping, so that the book won't get damaged.
Anyone who purchases a copy of Volume 2 will be placed on a mailing list for the announcement of the publication of the forthcoming Volume 1. I intend to release both volumes on CD eventually, as an adjunct to the book, and to facilitate searching of the text. There is only one way to get a copy of Volume 1, and that is to also get a copy of Volume 2. And there is only one way to get a copy of the CD, and that is to first get both volumes of the book.
One of the uses of this book is to extract pen history, but it could also be used as a repair manual to help repair a certain model of pen, or it could be used to find old pen machinery and penmaking techniques. It's not just one book, but three. It's a history book that tells us where pens came from. It's a parts manual that tells us something about how the pens fit together, and shows us their DNA structure. But most importantly, it's a textbook of repair. This book gives us the information about a pen's heredity that should enable us to come up with diagnostics for pen ailments and preventive repair strategies. It's like looking at the Fountain Pen Genome.
Available from the author at: penpatents@canada.com, telephone number: (306)244-6096
