55 replies to this topic

[Pensee]

Hi all,

Well annual pen budget is spent, so while saving up for next year’s Dallas pen show-- time for some winter reading to better educate myself about collecting. (Watermans from turn of last century in particular.)

Only book have now is “Fountain Pens Past & Present” by Paul Erano, but in covering all pens, maybe he couldn’t go into much detail about LEW Co.

1.) Good choice would seem to be “Waterman Past and Present” by Gary Lehrer & Max Davis. Anyone have it? Detailed text, or mainly reference pictures?

2.) Fountain Pens and Pencils: The Golden Age of Writing Instruments by George Fischler & Stuart Schneider. Have read this is a good one, but 1998 seems a little dated. Newer edition out there? If so, couldn’t find. Again, detailed text or mainly reference photos?

3.) From another topic, ran across one called “Da Book.” Title? This is F&S book or different one?

Thanks for any tips/opinions on books.

--Bruce

BTW: Here’s hoping everyone on east cost effected by storm-- safe & sound. Pen collecting & suggestions for books seems trivial by comparison...

[FmrLEO_GJ]

Hi all,

Well annual pen budget is spent, so while saving up for next year’s Dallas pen show-- time for some winter reading to better educate myself about collecting. (Watermans from turn of last century in particular.)

Only book have now is “Fountain Pens Past & Present” by Paul Erano, but in covering all pens, maybe he couldn’t go into much detail about LEW Co.

1.) Good choice would seem to be “Waterman Past and Present” by Gary Lehrer & Max Davis. Anyone have it? Detailed text, or mainly reference pictures?

2.) Fountain Pens and Pencils: The Golden Age of Writing Instruments by George Fischler & Stuart Schneider. Have read this is a good one, but 1998 seems a little dated. Newer edition out there? If so, couldn’t find. Again, detailed text or mainly reference photos?

3.) From another topic, ran across one called “Da Book.” Title? This is F&S book or different one?

Thanks for any tips/opinions on books.

--Bruce

BTW: Here’s hoping everyone on east cost effected by storm-- safe & sound. Pen collecting & suggestions for books seems trivial by comparison...

Hi Bruce

Re number 3 in your list above: Fountain Pens: The Complete Guide to Repair & Restoration
Revised Edition
by Frank Dubiel.
Commonly referred to as "Da Book", it is a compilation of many factory repair manuals with Frank's own methods of making the job easy. This book is a "must have" for all who intend to repair pens. Available from Pendemonium; Email info@pendemonium.com

[FarmBoy]

If you are going to start repairing pens or just want to know how others do repairs I'd suggest getting Pen Repair by Marshall and Oldfield See here. Da'Book is dated at best and has limited pictures and suggests techniques that are no longer advised.

[AndyR]

'Waterman Past & Present' is basically all pictures which is OK but I wouldn't say it is educational and certainly not in the same class as David Shepherd's Parker books. I agree with the recommendation for Marshall & Oldfield's 'Pen Repair' but make sure you get the latest edition.

Andy

[Pensee]

Hi Bruce

Re number 3 in your list above: Fountain Pens: The Complete Guide to Repair & Restoration
Revised Edition by Frank Dubiel. Commonly referred to as "Da Book", it is a compilation of many factory repair manuals with Frank's own methods of making the job easy. This book is a "must have" for all who intend to repair pens. Available from Pendemonium; Email info@pendemonium.com

Not much into repair unless just nip swapping or eventually learning how to align tines on flex nibs. (Waiting on epoxy to see if can glue cracked BHR, but that's diff. topic.) Anyway, thanks for explaining title. Always good to know what people are referring to.

If you are going to start repairing pens or just want to know how others do repairs I'd suggest getting Pen Repair by Marshall and Oldfield See here. Da'Book is dated at best and has limited pictures and suggests techniques that are no longer advised.

Thanks for link. Fountain Pens of the World by Andreas Lambrou *sounds* promising, but pricey. Again-- get's into question of how many pictures -vs- how much text on collecting diff. models of Waterman overlay.

Pen Repair 2nd Ed. also looked terrific. (Have parker 51 vac that's dry writer, but that's back-burner.)

As with my reply to "'FmrLEO_GJ" only thing repair-wise would be learning flex nib need alignment. Does book go into any of that?

'Waterman Past & Present' is basically all pictures which is OK but I wouldn't say it is educational and certainly not in the same class as David Shepherd's Parker books. I agree with the recommendation for Marshall & Oldfield's 'Pen Repair' but make sure you get the latest edition.

Andy

Too bad doesn't write about LEW co. then. Their history can be a tad confusing (for me at least.)

Gather Lambrou book or L&S both equally good for starters?

For pointers on collecting-- any other other books besides 2 mentioned come to anyone's mind?

thx

--Bruce

[Deb]

Hi Bruce,

I've found the Lambrou book to be excellent but like the Erano book it covers all the major manufacturers, so a less than huge amount of space is devoted to each one. That said, it gives a good grounding and I go back to it for reference quite often.

Another book I've found useful and entertaining is Martine, Leite, and Gagean: The Chronicle of the Fountain Pen. The year-by-year chronicle format may not be to everyone's taste but there's a lot of information there. Most of it's sound, though we can always argue over the minutiae of dates. It's also more geographically comprehensive than many other pen publications.

[AndyR]

Fountain Pens of the World is also rather dated now but good if you want (some) information and pictures of pens worldwide. If however you don't mind restricting yourself to pens of the USA & UK, Lambrou's later volume 'Fountain Pens United States of America and United Kingdom' is a bit more up to date and has a higher text to pictures ratio. It should also be a lot cheaper and probably a better buy if you don't mind the more limited coverage.

Andy

[Roger W.]

If you are collecting a particular pen then getting copies of the original catalogs is the way to go. Reference books are good if you want a general overview. The specific Parker books I understand to be fairly good. I haven't heard anything about the Waterman book. Membership with the PCA will get you a whole lot of catalogs for free.


Roger W.

[John Danza]

Membership with the PCA will get you a whole lot of catalogs for free.

Roger hits the nail on the head here. The books that have been mentioned are all useful but our hobby isn't large enough to see much updating of the material. So a lot of knowledge comes from research through original documents in the PCA Library along with following great forums like you have here and watching a lot of sales sites, including ebay.

[Jerry Adair]

There are a lot of great books out there during our past missives about Brando a number were mentioned. The key is: do you want to repair? Or, do you want knowledge? Two very different arenas. My first book was the Fishler and Schneider book, my opinion it is still a must have, Glen Bowens book Collectible Fountain Pens is on my list too, I wouldn't be without Paul Eranos books either and I have the early Cliff Lawrence books as well. Pauls books are especially good because they have pricing that is relatively clos to what the market is now. Don't jump on me because I know too that some of the pricing is off but the books are a good benchmark. One must start somewhere and his book is as good as any.
I disagree ever so slightly with Mr Zorn about Franks da Book. I was able to successfully repair a Dunn with info from Franks book and at $20 or so from Pendemonium it is nice to look at it now and then. I fully agree with Ron about the Marshall and Oldfield book it is great but a tad pricey for many. If you are going to repair pens it is an essential reference. Not being a member of PCA and probably never will, I count on these books for pen background and history. As I said in my opening sentence it just depends on what you want from the hobby, collect and repair or just collect , that should decide what reference books for you to buy.

[david i]

I have... many... pen books. I certainly advocate reading pen books, keeping in mind that as with most secondary sources, errors abound.

I do recommend the big blue book by Fischler and Schneider as the first >$50 book. The photos are less artsy than Andy's big book, but they book gives more instruction. FPOTW imo is the most beautiful display one can find for old fountain pens.

While to each his own regarding how to approach learning about old pens, I heartily agree with a post, above, regarding pen catalogues and PCA. Joining PCA for year costs less than most books. The access to free PDF downloads of copies of original catalogues (some copies a bit rough, admittedly) by far is best bang for buck on those who want to learn details of old American fountain pens.

regards

david

[Rick Krantz]

I keep thinking the early PFC handbooks, although the prices are out to lunch, and the pictures are not the best, and okay, the descriptions are not 100%, the reference material is still valuable. I would love to see someone recreate this, in a modern context, in color. More of a pen identification guide, than anything else.

I recommend Paul's book as well. There is no other work that offers so much BANG for the BUCK... nuff said

Blue book, the Fischler and Schneider book is a must have.

If you dive deep into Parkerland, the Duofold book, the Vac book, and the 51 books are must haves.

I got tons of back issues of pen world, and PFC newsletter, THe Pennant back issues as well.

Da Book, pass on it, I would say... save the extra buck and buy the Marshall and Oldfield manual. Far better. Da book is dangerous to you and your pens.

[Jerry Adair]

Rick
If you are something more than a hack newbie Dubiels book has some good ideas. Like any manual one must sort out what is not meaningful and or practical. Frank used an alcohol lamp, I personally on many occasions watched him in his kitchen use it. Never a warped or burnt pen was seen. Would I use one? Absolutley not, I have a variable temp heat gun and test the temp with a pyrometer and I also have a glasses frame heater that uses glass beads. Dead nuts temp every time.
Again daBook is not for the faint of heart nor the budding repairman with an IQ 2 points below an amoeba. One has to be cautious with heat and adhesives including MEK, Loctite, modeling glue or 2 part epoxys or slurrys made from any of the aforementioned chemicals.
For $20 or so daBook is a good investment. All books are learning experiences and if one has a problem or concern hit this Forum. The answer will usually be found the same day.
Jerry

[FmrLEO_GJ]

I kind of wish I had kept my mouth shut - fingers in my pockets - as all I was providing Bruce was the title for the question he posted [item 3]

I found a PDF of 'da Book' online and printed it off ages ago.
I had a brief look at it, but given I have never done a repair / restoration, it remains in the cupboard until I am ready to attempt one.
I am sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

[Jerry Adair]

One last point about repair books. David alluded to the fact that errors abound in these manuals. That is an absolute! Common sense must prevail as well as practice. I cannot speak for everyone but I would bet that any of us who have tried to repair a pen have had that ohhhh s#%^ minute. Many of us probably more than once. Each ohhh s$%^# minute needs to be another brick in the wall of our learning. I remember with a sense of a great loss of a pristine Sr Duofold in Moderne, oh well a story for another time.

[david i]

I kind of wish I had kept my mouth shut - fingers in my pockets - as all I was providing Bruce was the title for the question he posted [item 3]

I found a PDF of 'da Book' online and printed it off ages ago.
I had a brief look at it, but given I have never done a repair / restoration, it remains in the cupboard until I am ready to attempt one.
I am sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

Hi Garth,

No worries, mate. This is the Fountain Pen Board, not some other Fountain Pen board...

There is room for different views, room for disagreement, room to learn...

Sharing opinions and even having disagreements is part and parcel with the learning process.

I'm happy to have known Frank. His book has plenty of useful info, often derived from original repair manuals. And the book is historically signficant in the context of collectable pendom, as it was the first item of its sort. My recollection is that Cliff Lawrence's Pen Fancier's Magazine offered copies of original repair manuals in the mag at times, Frank's was the first book to synthesize the material in such a useful fashion. It is quite likely that anyone you know who has been in the hobby more than ten years and who fixes pens regularly, used and cherished that book. And, indeed those new to restoration can learn a great deal from it.

Suspect the point of some of the active seasoned restorer types in this and in other recent threads, is that they see the Oldfield book as having supplanted Frank's book. I'm have not read the new book cover to cover and it has been years since I read Frank's book. The new book seems more comprehensive and has newer techniques offered. Frank's book might have larger diagrams for some of the classic repair techniques.

There is room for different take son things. Jerry is a highly experienced collector with a good eye for pens and with sound ethics. I've enjoyed buying pens from him over the years. He does not see much need to join PCA. Whether I am a seasoned pen collector with sound ethics, I'll leave to others to judge, but I believe I have decent eye for old pens too, and I enjoy focusing on the minutiae of pen series, as reflected in numerous online posts and recent highly detailed articles (In PENnant) focusing on, Late 1930's Canadian Sheaffers, Sheaffer off-catalogue Balance cap-band patterns, Sheaffer-Lenox's 1959 desk sets, and (in couple weeks) Sheaffer's Screaming Souls in Purgatory pens. With my interest in details and in minutia, I have found the PCA library (along with Bill's Pens' pricier high quality color copies) invaluable. What's better for a Vacumatic collector than reading 8 different Vacumatic catalogues from the 1930's?

BTW- the PCA free library has numerous period service manuals. For those who want to learn how the pen companies fixed their own pens (remove a clip from a metal wWahl? Etc), the PCA library is golden. I would not be shocked if one could download a couple hundred pages or more of repair material from the original makers.

There are many good ways to approach collecting and restoration. Here, you are seeing a serious crowd play through the issues

d

[Jerry Adair]

I will vouch for your ethics and sometime at a Janesville meeting we can discuss PCA
Jerry

[David Nishimura]

Coming in late here.

I would also recommend the Fischler and Schneider "Blue Book". It has come down in price over the years, but the information inside has held up very well, all in all.

I should also note that the nature of publishing has changed radically. In years past, we would have seen a natural progression in a newer field of collecting (and study) from general works to more focused monographs. And though we have seen this to a degree -- exemplified by David Shepherd's Parker volumes and various books devoted to Italian brands -- the move to digital publishing has left many would-be authors holding back. Publishing a traditional book is expensive, and the audience for a specialized monograph will be limited. In addition, the rapid digitization of primary sources is opening up new research possibilities, and a diligent researcher will be reluctant to publish until all these new avenues are at least preliminarily explored.

I would love to write a Waterman monograph. As is, I feel there are far too many gaps in our knowledge -- gaps that will be filled in soon, rather than things that we will never know and which need not hold us back. So for now, if you want up-to-date Waterman knowledge, books aren't where you'll find it, for the most part.

As for Frank Dubiel's book, I feel it is of interest primarily as an historical artifact. It's a bit like a cookbook written by an eccentric chef, full of omissions and idiosyncratically bad recommendations: OK for an experienced chef to mine for what is useful, but terribly dangerous for an amateur in the kitchen.

[JonSzanto]

Gents,

I'm feeling a need to add the Fischler and Schneider book to my (growing) collection. Can you tell me: are there multiple editions, or can I safely purchase any copy that I happen to come across? ETA: I've just done a search, and note a 2nd, revised edition, wondering if this is the most recent...

Also: does anyone know if Paul is going to do a reprint of his book? When I bought my copy from him, I thought he indicated he was almost out of them, and didn't know when/if he would be printing again.

Thanks for any info.

Edited by JonSzanto, 01 November 2012 - 06:04 PM.

[David Nishimura]

I believe there are only a couple of editions of the Blue Book, with the difference being in the price guide (a separately printed insert). I do not think the main text was changed.