In 1640 Scottish Covenanter forces invaded England as part of the Second Bishops’ War and were victorious at the Battle of Newburn, leading to a truce and the 1641 Treaty of London. War has historically driven a demand for mobility of supplies, munitions, and communications equipment including messaging tools. Early Scottish goldsmiths stepped up to deliver travel communications needs.
By the late 18th century English rule had consolidated England, Scotland and Ireland and the early influencers of the Writing Instrument Revolution began to emerge.
In this delightful 1822 English Patent image, you can see the signatures of John Isaac Hawkins (at the top) and Sampson Mordan. This patent marks the first-ever British endeavor to create propelling pencils. It's worth noting that Sampson Mordan, who had the privilege of being Joseph Bramah's esteemed apprentice, and John Isaac Hawkins, the brilliant mind behind the invention of the iridium pointed gold pen in 1833, joined forces for this exciting new venture. writing revolution
Thomas Addison silver pencil manufacturing began in at least early 1825, and may have begun much earlier. The first major newspaper ad campaign originated in the Charleston Mercury on August 13th and was ongoing during September and October 1825. Many quite early writing instruments.
By November 1825, demand from the ad campaign resulted in Thomas Addison & Co. advertising “Apprentices Wanted” in the New York Evening Post, helping to build momentum for the writing revolution. .
Jean Benoit Mallat worked in the wake of a rich and ongoing French heritage of scientific & mathematical instrument development by instrument makers of the period, including Bion, Maulevaut, Lordelle, Langlois, Le Maire, Butterfield, Canivet, Lennel and Baradelle operated studios near the Quai de l'Horlage du Palais on the Île de la Cité.
In Sotheby's book Drawing Instruments by Maya Hambly, the author mentions Early French Scientific Instrument Makers Christoff Schissler (1530-1609), Jacobus & Domenicus Lusuerg (1680-1710), Nicolas Bion (1652-1723), Micheal Butterfield (1635-1724), and Chapotot the Elder (1670-1686). Hambly also depicts images from German Joseph Furttenbach’s Mechanischer Reissladen (Augsburg, 1644).
French collaborations with America bolstered the American Writing Revolution. Depicted is a Mallat Ruby-Tipped Gold Pen nib. Rare pens resulting from sparse production.
Based upon information available from New York City based publisher The Scientific American, Washington, D.C. based Weekly National Intelligencer, and other research, Albert G. Bagley was one of the workers trained at Simeon Hyde's gold pen factory alongside Levi Brown, initially trained by Aaron Cleveland in 1836.
In 1838, Mr. Bagley had left the Hyde/Brown factory, continuing his developmental experimentation while engaging in the manufacture of Gold Pen nibs.
Thorough research and documentation are needed to understand the beginnings of the American Writing Revolution. This includes studying the key players, timeline of events, and various trade partnerships, copartnerships, and marketing promotions that led to a shift from quill pens to Gold Pen nibs.
Levi Brown, Albert G. Bagley, and Josiah Hayden were significant early innovators in the United States, with Levi Brown recognized as being the first trained in Hawkins' iridium tipping method by Cleveland and credited with initiating the revolution in America.
Albert G. Bagley's Gold Pen business dominated the market for decades and he made a fortune by creating unique patented products and selling them to the public as well as wholesaling to his peers.
Josiah Hayden also played a role in the Gold Pen nib business, selling his business to Rollin L. Dawson's enterprise to pursue his fortune in other business. He partnered with Mr.Dawson who then founded Dawson, Warren, and Hyde which became a significant early Gold Pen nib producer early in the revolution.
The Bard brothers were another early Gold Pen maker. Research is underway to sort fact from self-promotion.
John Mabie started as a pencil case maker, becoming a Gold Pen nib maker as Mabie, Todd & Co. in the 1860s and experiencing significant growth with the arrival of the fountain pen revolution in the 1880s.
Leroy Fairchild leveraged an early partnership with John Rendell, which gained momentum in the 1880s when he embraced to-the-trade concepts started by Bagley in the 1840s.
This website serves as a fact-finding project as it shares the John B. Minor Collection. early writing instruments
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