A Brief History of Victorian Era Gold Pens (Gold Nib Dip Pens)
Fountain pens as writing instruments have been prevalent for over a century. Their predecessor, gold nib dip pens from the Victorian era (referred to as "gold pens”), however, disappeared completely within less than 200 years. Apart from dedicated pre-war antique pen collectors, few are familiar with this category of writing instrument. As an enthusiast of gold nib dip pens, I couldn't bear to see such a glorious era forgotten, hence I've penned this informative piece to shed light on a lesser-known past.
The term "gold pen" derives from the gold nib dip pen, corresponding to the "steel pen." Here, the steel pen does not refer to modern fountain pens but rather to steel nib dip pens. The primary origin of the steel nib dip pen can trace back to James Perry, an Englishman who crafted a steel-nib pen integrated with the pen body in the early 19th century. In 1822, John Mitchell, also English, used machinery to produce the first steel nib dip pen in England. The emergence of steel nib dip pens quickly led to the introduction of gold nib dip pens. While gold's corrosion resistance made it an excellent nib material, pure gold nibs were too soft and prone to wear, rendering them unsuitable for widespread use in early 19th-century England.
A pivotal moment occurred in 1833 when John Isaac Hawkins, heard about the research on the elements iridium and osmium by William Hyde Wollaston and Smithson Tennant. Hawkins discovered that these two chemical elements were exceptionally hard and durable, making them ideal materials for writing instruments. Hawkins began experimenting with iridium, osmium, or iridium-osmium alloys fused onto gold nibs.
In 1834, Hawkins successfully produced the first 16k gold nib tipped with iridium in the England, significantly enhancing the practicality of gold nib dip pens. In 1835, he sold this business to an American, Rev. Charles Cleveland, who later transferred ownership to Aaron Porter Cleveland, Rev. Charles Cleveland's brother. In the spring of 1836, Aaron Porter Cleveland traveled to England to learn the craft of tipping gold nibs with iridium from Hawkins. He then returned to New York in October of the same year and taught Levi Brown of Detroit how to tip nibs with iridium.
Levi Brown is regarded as the first American gold pen manufacturer. Around 1838, he began producing and selling gold pens in Detroit, but by 1840, he had moved to New York to operate his gold pen business. He had two notable apprentices, John Rendell and John Foley.
Let's first discuss Rendell, who worked under Brown. In 1844, Rendell invented a machine for producing gold nibs, replacing the earlier manual process of cutting gold nibs with scissors. Around 1847, Rendell ventured out on his own, producing his own gold pens. Between 1847 and 1851, he collaborated with Spencer and Hiram Dixon to establish a gold pen factory.
In 1850, another significant breakthrough occurred. From 1834 to 1850, the process of tipping nibs with iridium was done through soldering. This method involved melting a solder between the iridium tipping and the gold nib to bond them together, resulting in a chance of iridium tipping falling off. In 1850, Rendell improved this process from soldering to welding, fusing the iridium tipping and the gold nib into a single unit, significantly enhancing the strength of the tipping in gold nibs. This invention laid the foundation for the modern process of tipping fountain pen nibs with iridium. Around the same time, Rendell and Leroy W. Fairchild also made some other improvements in gold nibs, such as making them more elastic and allowing for a greater flexibility and a better snapback.
In 1853, Rendell and Fairchild formed a partnership to establish a gold pen business. Thus, from 1853 onwards, gold dip nibs bearing the imprint "Rendell & Fairchild Co." could be found on the market. Later, Fairchild bought out Rendell's share and established his own namesake company in 1858, continuing the production of gold nibs.
Leroy W. Fairchild passed away in 1909, and his son, Harry Penton Fairchild, took over the company's operations, managing it until sometime between 1930 and 1940. It's worth mentioning that Leroy Fairchild is recorded as the first nib supplier for L. E. Waterman, supplying nibs to Waterman as early as 1886. Leroy W. Fairchild's gold-nib dip pens were considered equivalent to Waterman's status in the fountain pen community of that era. The exquisite pen bodies, along with highly durable and robust nibs, earned Fairchild's gold pens widespread acclaim.
Moving on to John Foley, according to Foley himself, he began working at the age of 14 and he was an apprentice under Levi Brown. He ventured out on his own to establish his gold pen business in 1848, after which Foley's gold pen business flourished, making him another well-known gold pen manufacturer in the United States. Upon Foley's death, his son, also named John Foley, took over the company. Another son, Daniel F. Foley, established his own gold pen business around 1888 after working at Aikin Lambert, but records disappear around 1891 due to a factory fire, resulting in fewer surviving examples of D. F. Foley's gold pens compared to his father's.
It's interesting to note that Foley boasted a gold content of 16 and one-eighth karats in his nibs, equivalent to 67%. They are higher than the gold content of most nibs on the market. Foley's most famous products were his Bank Nib and intricately carved nibs, with the largest nib produced being no.25 nibs (actual dimensions not found, but they should exceed no.21 nibs with a length of 50mm and a width of 13mm based on Foley’s catalog).
Transitioning from the era of gold pens to the era of fountain pens, one cannot overlook John Holland. The lineage of John Holland can be traced back to his master, George W. Sheppard. As mentioned earlier, the process of tipping nibs with iridium transitioned from Hawkins in England to Levi Brown in Detroit. According to records, George Sheppard successfully produced his own iridium-tipped gold nib in Detroit around 1840. Whether Sheppard learned the craft from Brown is yet to be confirmed, but the timing aligns.
In 1841, Sheppard manufactured and sold gold pens in Cincinnati. In 1853, John Holland became Sheppard's apprentice and worked under him until 1862 when Holland acquired Sheppard’s business, establishing his eponymous gold pen company.
Additionally, John Holland's research on modern fountain pens can be traced back to 1859, with the earliest production of gold-nib fountain pens in 1865. The first advertisement for modern fountain pens dates back to 1879 in John Holland's advertisement, introducing a hard rubber eyedropper fountain pen, preceding Waterman's patent for improvements in fountain pen feed by five years. The first modern fountain pen probably should be attributed to John Holland rather than the later-known Waterman. After introducing eyedropper fountain pen, Holland continued to improve nib structures and ink filling systems, subsequently releasing fountain pens with different filling systems.
In 1885, John Holland company incorparated, becoming one of the largest early fountain pen manufacturers. However, due to Holland's remote location in Cincinnati, sales and promotion were significantly limited by their resellers. The renowned founder of Parker, George S. Parker, was one of Holland's resellers. Despite Holland's success, his fountain pen development lagged behind that of his competitors in New York. From the 1930s onwards, the quality of Holland's fountain pens significantly declined. By 1950, with the death of John Holland's last son, the John Holland brand came to an end.
With the introduction of fountain pens equipped with ink reservoirs, the survival space for gold pens dwindled. Coupled with the increasing demand for writing quick notes, gold pens began to gradually fade from the stage of writing instruments from the 1920s and were eventually consigned to oblivion by the march of time. I hope this informative piece fills in the gap before the advent of fountain pens and provides an answer to those curious about the existence of gold-nib dip pens.
This article does not delve deeply into all gold pen manufacturers, but some other notable ones include:
Grieshaber Chicago
A. Morton New York
Mabie Todd New York
E. S. Johnson New York
Edward Todd New York
Aikin Lambert New York
William S. Hicks New York
Albert G. Bagley New York (also an apprentice of Levi Brown)
Dawson, Warren & Hyde New York
The reference materials for this article include but are not limited to the following sources:
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