posted on 29 Nov 2015

100 Years of Sheaffer

Let me start with an apology. This book is essentially a very beautiful and sumptuous piece of advertising. I don't see it as any part of this site to be provide a free commercial advantage for anyone but this celebration of the Sheaffer pen is so undeniably fabulous that I am making an exception for this.

The hundred years the title refers to is 1913 - 2013 and what we're given is a set of colour photographic plates that catalogue the development of the Sheaffer fountain pen. The photos really are glorious and linger on detail in a knowing and even mildly fetishistic way. Extreme close-up and saturated colours will make anyone with a fondness for the fountain pen drool in a completely unseemly fashion and I would defy you to look at this and not think 'Hmm, maybe a small collection of fountain pens is exactly what I need.'

In addition to the pens, the book will also interest anyone who is fascinated by period advertising. The graphics on the posters and magazine inserts are genuinely works of genius - even if it is genius at the service of Mammon. Where there is text it tends to fluctuate between the genuinely historically or technically informative and less engaging rhetorical puff pieces for Sheaffer and its executives.

Published in paperback - or more accurately, cardback - this production was, as I understand it, never released for general sale. I was given my copy because I was a contributor to a conference about books that Sheaffer was sponsoring. There are a couple of copies available to buy on line but I'm afraid they can rack up a cost of over £50 if you buy from a dealer. I'd say it might be better to keep your eyes peeled for this in charity shops or second hand stores where you might pick it up considerably cheaper than that.

Terry Potter

November 2015