Those
of you who own the original will be pleased with the new edition. Those
of you who haven't will be likewise delighted. There, that about sums
it up!
Fountain Pens Past and Present Second Edition by Paul Erano is going to become a classic reference guide for pen collectors. That is a foregone conclusion, given it's wealth of information and great price point. Fortunately, it's also a great book, you get well more than your money's worth with this publication.
At 287 pages, this is no mere pamphlet, it's a serious look at collectable pens. Covering everything from the basics of collecting pens through basic histories of many of the principle manufacturers, this is a very informative book, and likely to prove quite popular for all collectors, whether just starting out, or those in the advanced stages of the disease.
Paul Erano has been involved in the hobby of pen collecting for many years, and has along the way learned the lessons of "effective" collecting. Lessons that he passes along in the chapters on evaluating pens, making decisions on collection focus, and determining the value of a given pen.
All this before you even get to the chapters on the various pens themselves!
Once you do reach the portion of the book devoted to the pens themselves, you will find it split into several sections. Beginning with an overview chapter: "Major Manufacturers and Their Classics" which goes briefly into the history and models of the "major players" in American fountain pen history. Unlike some reference books, there is plenty of attention paid to companies outside of the "Big Four", Sheaffer, Waterman, Parker, and Wahl Eversharp. Here you will also find information on Conklin, Esterbrook, Moore and Swan.
From this point on, the book is divided into sections based on era. Beginning with "Early Fountain Pens", and moving through chapters devoted to "The Golden Age", "The Modern Age", and "Contemporary Fountain Pens". Each of these chapters is complete with not only photos of the pens themselves, but also reprints of original advertisements. This makes each chapter not just a source of direct information about a particular pen, but also a look into the marketing of the time. It is a very effective mix of information, and makes reading through the book much more enjoyable than if it were a mere "catalog" of pens. There is also a chapter devoted to "Custom Pens", covering some examples of both existing pens that have been customized, as well as "made from scratch" writing instruments.
The pens shown are supplied with a suggested value range to give you an idea of the relative worth of a particular example. There are enough pens shown from each era to make this a very useful "identification guide" as well as a good general reference book. Another nice point about the arrangement of pens into eras as opposed to splitting them by brand is that it allows you to compare pens from similar time periods, often on the same page. It's interesting to see how manufacturers from around the world approached the same market.
Fountain Pens Past and Present is a wonderful reference. 287 pages, and of high production values, it's well worth it's price tag of only $25. Printed on nice medium weight semi-gloss paper, with hard covers, it comes across as a high quality book. In addition, most of the images in the book were shot by David Isaacson, and it's nice to see a large quantity of his work assembled in one place!
For those who are just starting out in collecting, this book is an excellent place to begin. I would recommend it as "the" starting point for a new collector, given the breadth of coverage, and the reasonable price tag. For the more advanced collector, it's a valuable reference work, providing some of the history behind the makers, and more importantly, high quality illustrations of some very hard to find pens. It would be tough to find a better way to spend $25 in this hobby. (That $25 Empire Cap 51 Paul mentions in the book would be the exception!)
copyright 2004 William Riepl