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A Taxonomy Of The Fountain Pen

George Kovalenko

Back in August 2002, Vance Koven proposed a taxonomy of the fountain pen on Zoss. I played around with his version and rearranged it a bit, changing some of his terminology, but adopting some of it as well. His taxonomy was broken down into three major classes, and my regrouping into two came about as a response to some research I had been doing on pen patents. Somewhere near the end of the research, I realised that I could draw up a genealogy tree of the pen, and genealogy and taxonomy are bed partners. The tree started with the reed brush and reed pen, and then progressed to the quill, metal nibs, penholders, and on to the first fountain pens. The fountain pens bifurcated into two branches, not three, those that filled directly into the barrel, and those that filled into something inside the barrel. That is the simplest taxonomic classification system for pens. Any further subdivision into nibbed and stylographic pens, or metal and glass nibs, is superfluous because almost any kind of point can be placed in any kind of pen. Here’s the taxonomic structure.



Along the way, a parallel family sprang up. Graphite was discovered and used in its crude state, then encased in wood, and then held in sliding and spiral-cam metal cases and holders. These were sometimes joined up with fountain pens to make the first combos, so that the two families intermarried. The slide and screw mechanisms for pencils were also adapted for the safety and piston pen mechanisms, and on it goes into the modern era, where some very bizarre hybrids and cross pollinations occurred.

I would like to thank Vance Koven, Rob Astyk, David Moak, Olle Hjort, Sterling Picard, Dave Johannsen, and David Nishimura for their contributions to this taxonomy. If you have any issues with its arrangement, please feel free to email me about it.