The first Friday in November observes Fountain Pen Day and here are five fun and fascinating facts about the fountain pen for you! Do you use one?

Before fountain pens began to be used, most pens were “dip pens” where a quill had to be dipped into an inkwell every few minutes to replenish the ink. The fountain pen had a compartment inside designed for a miniature inkwell, thus allowing the user to tap into an ink source within the pen, sort of like an endless reservoir or fountain. Hence, the name – fountain pen.

Fun and Fascinating Facts About the Fountain Pen

1. Fountain pens date back as early as the year 974 (source).
2. Leonardo da Vinci is believed to have made and used his own fountain pens.
3. A pen made by Zbigniew Rozanek of Poland in 1991 holds the record for the largest fountain pen right now. It measured 7 ft in length with a nib length of 18 inches, and a diameter of 4 inches. The total weight of the pen, including ink was 9.5kg 20lb. Without ink it weighed 7 LBS (source).
4. The Tibaldi Fulgor Nocturnus, with a price tag of $8,000,000,000, is currently the most expensive fountain pen in the world.
5. Did you know that there are many different types of fountain pens – depending on the type of fillers, nibs, and other categories? And inks as well?

h/t, References, and Further Reading About the Fountain Pen

• Wikipedia page on the fountain pen
• History of Fountain Pens: A Timeline (at TheCloakedFox)
• Why is a Fountain Pen Called a Fountain Pen? (WoodFountainPens)
• A guide to writing with a fountain pen (Pen Company)

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And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, hope you found this short post a fun read. Do you use a fountain pen? Or did you use one earlier? Favorite pen? Memory associated with using it? Favorite ink color?

As for me, I loved using the fountain pen while a student (the Hero pen with Bril ink!) and I still do. While we normally had to use Royal Blue ink, I cajoled and begged till I got another pen to use with a green ink from Bril which I loved for some reason.