HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN PENS

Fountain pen consists of a reservoir of water-based fluid ink. If the fountain pen uses an ink cartridge instead of built-in ink compartment then it is called cartridge pens. The oldest historical record of a pen dates back to the tenth century. In the 953 AD the caliph of Egypt, Ma'ād al-Mu'izz demanded a pen that had a inner reservoir of ink which wouldn’t leak on to his hands and clothes and eventually delivered the ink to the nib.

Though the prices of the fountain pens have heightened there are many people through out the world who still use them. There are also disposable fountain pens available. Fountain pens have also been deemed works of art. Pen enthusiasts collect a wide range of pens, right from the antique ones to the modern ones. They don’t believe in preserving the antique pens in a glass case, instead they use and maintain them well.

There were three main inventions that led to a wider use and manufacture of the Fountain pens; they are iridium-tipped gold nib, free-flowing ink and hard rubber. The first fountain pen that was made with all three key inventions came up in the year 1850. The nibs used earlier were the iridium-tipped gold dip pen nibs. The fountain pens today use nibs that are made of stainless steel or gold. Most commonly used gold content is 18 karat and 14 karat.

Fountain pens since 20^th century come with a much more flexible nib. The best fountain pen brands are Caran d'Ache, Pelikan, Waterman, Faber-Castell, Montblanc, Monteverde, Michel Perchin, DuPont, Montegrappa, Stipula, Sigma, Delta and Rotring. A few of the fountain pen manufacturers urbanized their unique cartridges like Parker, Lamy, Cross, Sheaffer, and Namiki. Fountain pen cartridges have a small ball of plastic which is held within the ink exit hole by gum or by a slight layer of plastic.