Long Island Pen Show March 5 & 6

The Long Island Pen Show is coming up, Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, at Hofstra University. Barring severe weather conditions I plan on hopping on the LIRR and heading out there, but I'm not sure which day. One of the pen club members, Norman, has decided to divest himself of his 250-pen collection (left menu at the bottom under Pen Collection Sale), so I'm definitely looking forward to the trip.

Nomadic Envelope Style Pen Case

The Nomadic Envelope Style Pen Case is a tri-fold case that holds anywhere from 14 to 20 pens (depending on the diameter) and can, among other things, can stand on its own. The durable nylon fabric comes in a variety of colors (Tokyo Pen Shop has black, orange, and red while JetPens has black, navy, red, and khaki)


What I like is the velcro on each wing of the case is positioned exactly for maximum tightness in holding the pens in place without stretching the nylon out of shape. I tend to carry a lot of fountain pens in this gray one (I think 15 at one point), and while the case didn't lay flat it didn't bulge so much that I couldn't get it into my satchel. With the fountain pens clipped to the side of each pen holder, I didn't have any problems with them falling out.

Opened all the way it's a big pen case, with lots of room in each nylon section for big or thin pens, while under the placket (top middle section) there's a compartment for erasers or coins. The height of each section is such that you can see your pen (fountain or otherwise) right away, making finding your daily arsenal all the easier.


The back view shows how the edges curve to make the envelope all the more distintive, just a detail that adds a touch of style to the case itself. So far I've had no ink spills or blotches, so I don't know how well the nylon cleans. But it's most likely washable. If you're interested in a soft, non-leather case that will hold a lot of pens then this is definitely something to keep in mind when placing your next JetPens or Tokyo Pen Shop order. The price is very reasonable, too.

He Didn't Carry a Pen?

Eliza Ward sent this to me, it's a great follow-up to Jack's post on Pretty Boy Floyd and she's letting me share it.

Besides the great story, she highlights something I've noticed about myself since I started taking an interest in pens and stationery--how aware I am of any mention of writer's paraphernalia in what I read. I'm almost yelling into the void "what size was the nib?!"

Many thanks for this, Eliza!

I've been reading Go Down Together: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn and when I read this passage I thought of your post:

"Then Clyde told his father he had some papers he wanted to sign and leave with him. He didn't say what kind of papers they were, and taciturn Henry didn't ask. Since Henry was illiterate, he couldn't read them anyway. ... After he signed them and added his thumbprint, he told Henry, they should be given to his mother, Cumie. She'd know what to do with them. But the pen Clyde took from his pocket was out of ink, and it was the only one he had brought with him. Henry didn't carry a pen--he never wrote anything, so he didn't need one. Clyde put the papers back in the suitcase and said that signing them could wait." (p314)

That happened just a couple of weeks before he was ambushed, so his parents never found out what the papers were regarding. Guinn thinks it might have been Clyde's will. Clyde's mom thought it might've had someting to do with property, since he'd been talking about buying land. Anyway, now no one knows, and it's all because of a pen!

J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite Ink

There are many great reviews of J. Herbin's 1670 anniversary ink Rouge Hematite, such as here, here, and here. I was more interested in comparing the color to a few others I love, Diamine Poppy Red and Noodler's Widowmaker (with Diamine's Oxblood thrown in for a third comparison).

One thing I did finally notice about the 1670 is the gold sheen, which is very subtle. Shaking the bottle is a must, and even then you won't notice much unless, like me, you raise the notepad horizontally until it's even with your eyes (and just above your nose). Then I saw the slight gold tone to the red, which is very evenly disbursed within the red color itself.

As the picture shows, Widowmaker is darker and slightly cooler (I'm seeing a hint of blue) and Poppy Red much lighter (and warmer, with a lot of yellow in it). Oxblood is in its own category, a darker red that looks more like dried, oxidized blood than the drops of the fresh stuff you might see from a shaving mishap.

Another detail about 1670 is how much it shades. I used a q-tip for the swatch and the writing, and found the way the ink pooled and deepened an attractive addition to this ink's repertoire.

If you haven't gotten a bottle yet, check out Goulet Pens--you can order a sample to check it out, or the full bottle (which is as lovely as the ink).

The Rhodia dotPad Reverse Book

Rhodia's new dotWebbie can't get here fast enough for me, but I thought about my other favorite, the Reverse Book, and how a dotReverse would be a great addition to the line up. How would it look, would it work as well as the grid, would I love it as much? The only way I could find out would be to make one.


A few weeks earlier I had cannibalized some Rhodia large notepads to use with a three-ring binder, and hadn't thrown out one of the backs of an orange notepad. I cut down the paper, then got my buddy C. to run the Fellowes binder. We found the plastic rings, then started aligning paper and punching rectangles. (I now have quite a bit of dotPad paper for a 3.25 by 8.5 notepad, but that's another project entirely.)



The dotPad paper works well with the Reverse Book style, and doesn't overwhelm the way the grid paper does. The only part I would do over would be the size of the plastic ring binder, there was a smaller one available but according to the specs it wouldn't hold as much paper as this larger one. Now I realize I should have used it anyway, as this massive plastic binder takes up too much space. Maybe if it was in orange or black plastic, or bronze metal, I would be more accepting. But you can only work with what's on hand.

This is the top inside cover, where you can see that I'm really using the back of a Rhodia notepad.


And finally, the plain chipboard used to back the Rhodia notepads. All in all, this worked out very well. I used the same 8.25 by 8.25 dimensions as the Reverse Book, and added the dotPad and Rhodia motifs on the front cover.

Last, a pic of the Rhodia Reverse Book next to my "Rhodia dotReverse". I'm not a crafts-y person, although when I put my mind to it I can manage not to glue myself to the table when working on something. This came out much better than I expected, and now I have my own dotReverse while I wait and hope for Rhodia to make an official version.

Pilot LE Grance in Yamabouki Koi

One of the truly stunning pens made by Pilot is the Grance, a slender flat top pen with a graceful curve to barrel. It's a beautiful pen, as you can see here (scroll to the middle) but unfortunately it isn't sold in the United States.


This Limited Edition Grance is in a finish called Yamabouki Koi, for the golden orange koi fish. The pictures don't quite capture the color, which isn't as deep an orange as the above would have it. The pen takes a CON-50 converter or international cartridges, and the nib (which I can't quite read, 14K something) is my favorite fine point.

I was lucky, as I won the auction on eBay having lost twice before. This was the last time, and I was amazed when no one outbid me--the golden orange fish was mine! It makes an impression when showing off to pen people. One of my best moments was at Art Brown, when I showed it to the assistant. He mentioned that people show him their pens all day and he didn't think much about them, but this was definitely an impressive pen. He's right, it is.

The golden orange really picks up the black tip of the cap and barrel, and the silver accents don't class with the warm overall color scheme. After all this, I almost couldn't care if it skipped and scratched across the paper, but it doesn't: it's one of the best pens in my daily arsenal.

If you come across the Pilot Grance, whatever the color or nib size, try and get it. It's one of the best writing tools ever made.

Simon's Cat Journals

Simon's Cat has his own journals available, a larger A5 and a set of three smaller A7 memo books. I am tempted to order, if only to find out the shipping cost.