One of the De Atramentis Historic Persons Inks is Sherlock Holmes, which along with their Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ink commemorated Doyle's 150th birthday (May 22, 1859). These inks just got to the US, and I've been to Art Brown International Pen Shop several times looking for a bottle only to find the slot empty. Third time's the charm, and on my last visit I finally found Sherlock on the shelf, one bottle in the slot and none to replace it for a few more weeks.The color is called Night Blue, and it does seem like a dark but not stormy night sky. To me it looks like there's some turquoise in this (the picture is true to the color, no special effects added), but I'm not totally sure. What's nice about this ink is the smooth flow, no skipping or dry starts where you fear for the nib tip because you're pressing so hard trying to get ink to flow out. What makes this a lot of fun is the bottle (use the link above), which has a silhouette of Sherlock Holmes in deerstalker and pipe rather than a portrait like the other Historic Persons inks. Because each of us has our own perfect Holmes in mind, but the character is universal rather than specific--like night blue sky, I imagine.
There's a bit of shading to this color, though not much, and drying time is good although not a quick dry ink. The Platinum Affection I used has a fine nib, and the paper is some regular copy paper from a new notebook that I recently bought because I loved the cover. There was no bleed through, but not for lack of trying on the ink's part.
Definitely a beautiful and different blue, one that I'm looking forward to using a lot.
Do they compliment Sherlock Holmes with Dr. Watson? I wonder what color he would be? Something lighter yet harmonious...
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely blue! So easy on the eyes, I could read pages and pages written with this one. Thanks for the review. :)
ReplyDeleteJoniB, there's no Dr. Watson ink (mint green comes to mind for some reason), but there is a Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle ink that I bought as a companion for Sherlock Holmes and will have up next week. It's oriental red, which I can't figure out--did Conan Doyle use that color, or is it some reference to murder and mystery?
ReplyDeleteHi inkophile! I do love this blue, it is easy on the eyes and quite beautiful to look at.
Interesting -- I have a bottle of De Atramentis Wizard Ink, also listed as Night Blue on the label. Mine is a dark, purplish blue, not a bit of turquoise in it at all.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else think it kind of out of character for the dour Germans, makers of De Atramentis, to "go Hollywood" with its ink branding? That's no diss, either, just an observation. Jack/Y-town
ReplyDeleteI like mint green for Dr. Watson! Maybe we should suggest it. And how about a whole line of literary character inks? Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe - brown with yellow undertones. Archie Goodwin? Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot? I think I'll go pen a list...
ReplyDeleteWhere can one purchase this ink? The only site I'm seeing is the official De Atramentis site, but they have the prices listed in Euros...
ReplyDeleteJust FYI, I believe Doyle's color is Oriental Red in nod to the first Holmes story, "A Study in Scarlet."
ReplyDeleteYes, I figured that might be it. They gave Mark Twain the designation "Kermesin (scarlet)Red" and probably wanted to change that once they made one for Sir Arthur.
ReplyDelete