Aminul Islam, Assoc. Prof., Department of Chemistry, AMU, Aligarh

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   The History of Development
Having a system of writing was a key element for humans to achieve the level of sophistication referred to as civilization. Cuneiform, a picture-writing system that used symbols as letters was employed in the Middle East for writing a number of languages from about the end of the 4th millennium BC until about the 1st century BC. The development of writing itself helped civilization to flourish and with a script came history which transferred great ideas, incidents, inventions and literature to people of the present to know. With time, the writing instruments kept evolving throughout time. Ancient writing tools (triangular stylus by Sumerians and Babylonians) were rigid and were used to engrave texts into different materials (turtle shell by Chinese, wax tablet by Romans). Stiff reed pen (used by Egyptian Scribes on papyrus) was the oldest writing implement to use ink. Quill pen made from flight feathers of birds remained in action for almost 18 centuries. Although dip pen with metal (Gold) nib (Romans) and pen with reservoir (since 10th century) were known to exist, but were not popular. The drawback of quill and dip pens is that they must be dipped in an inkwell and may spoil the writing surface.

   The fountain pen, which contains an internal reservoir to hold more liquid ink, was the solution for these problems. The ink passes through a feed to the nib and deposits on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action. From 1809 to 1940, numerous inventions and craftsmanship were done on the fountain pen. Due to the invention of cheap, slip-in, steel nibs (1830) by a group of inventors in Birmingham, England, more than half the pens with steel nibs manufactured in the world were made here. Steel nibs were susceptible to corrosion with early ink type and gold nibs (14-18 carat or 58-75%) although corrosion resistant, are prone to tear. Then came the concept of having a tipped nib with a hard, tear resistant alloy of Iridium (very rare since 1950), osmium, tungsten etc. and gold plating to improve wettability. Design and type of nib also witnessed significant changes - flexible (Mabie Todd Swan), hooded (Lamy 2000; Parker 51, 61, 2007, 100; Hero 329), inlaid (Sheaffer PFM), integral (Parker Falcon; Pilot Myu701 and round point, calligraphy (broad with several slits- italic, stub, oblique) 360?, etc.

   Lewis Waterman, an insurance broker in New York City, had lost an important business contract because his fountain pen had given in and leaked onto the precious document. Determined to never suffer such humiliation again, he began research on capillary principles and patented his design in 1884. He started selling his hand-made Ideal fountain pen out of the back of a cigar shop with five years of guarantee in his first year of operation and remained the market leader (sold 7 out of 10 pens and 350,000 pens per year) until 1920s. The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Waterman pen. It was closed in 1954 after years of struggling. However, its French division survived few more decades and finally succumb to Newell Rubbermaid Company.

   By 1880, mass production of FP finally began and Waterman came up with a brilliant idea to add an air hole in the nib and three grooves inside the feed in order to improve the ink flow. Parker obtained a patent for the Lucky Curve feed. His pen factory became the biggest in the world by 1908 and was one of the first brands to have a presence worldwide. Almost all fountain pens then were generally filled by unscrewing a portion of the hollow barrel and inserting ink by the use of an eyedropper (and hence, also called an eyedropper) or syringe - surely a slow and messy method. But in 1890, the invention of Self-Filling - an internal ink filling mechanism which creates suction overcame the inconvenience of ink transfer and reduced the ink spills. By 1915, most pens had switched to various form of this mode: Roy Conklin - crescent filler, Parker - click & button filler (Duofold & Vacumatic), Waterman - twist & coin filler (42 Safety), Sheaffer - lever filler (Snorkel, Lifetime Balance Series) and the most successful by Pelikan - the Piston Filler (Transparent, Gold, 100).

   With advent of ball point pen in 1931 and its refinement in the 1960's, interest in fountain pens even with disposable plastic cartridges and converters saw a big dip. But Peliakn- 400, M series; Lamy- Safari, 2000; Pilot Metropolitan, Custom, Sailor- Professional Gear; Parker- 51, 45, Waterman Hemisphere; Sheaffer- Taranis, 300, Award; Kaweco- Classic Sport, ConklinDuragraph, TWSBI- Eco; Nemosine- Singularity; Eversharp- Skyliner; Noodler's Nib Creaper Flex; Aurora- Ipsilon; Cross- Aventura etc. still continued to have an appeal for their superior writing quality. However, Sailor- King of pen Youkou Urushi; Aurora- 88; Montblanc- Meisterstuck, StarWalker Urban; Sheaffer- Legacy Heritage, Prelude; Visconti- Opera Master and Pelikan- Souveran M series, Blue Ocean, Majesty have become much more - they are considered nothing short of status symbols.

Characteristics of Good Pen
Appearance & Design: Reasonable length and weight to have perfect balance with posted, superior streamline grip, good quality clip preferably with logo and ring on cap, demonstrator has special attraction.
Ink Filling Mechanism: Ideally eyedropper (holds more ink) or self-filler (piston), cartridge (big) with converter.
Nib & Performance: Smooth writing with no skips/false starts, should not require dipping or splashing, good ink flow & free from burping. Gold plated Steel flexible alloy-tipped nib. Thinner, flatter nib with large breather hole and longer tines are flexible.

Challenge
Today's highly digitized and pixelated world where e-mail has replaced snail-mail, note taking, event reminders etc. from diary to tablets, cursive writing to key board typing, from ball point pen to scribble grocery list to an app on cell phone, raises the question - What is the future of the fountain pen? Despite what may feel like a cultural conversion to digital tech, data shows that global fountain pen sales are actually on the rise. It can be concluded that there will always be a need for hand-written correspondence and people will continue to write by hand when it matters most, and when only a personal touch will do. Digital word pressing programs and design applications will never be able to replace the control, finesse, and experience of writing calligraphy. That artistic form will always belong to the fountain pen.

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