Customer Reviews

Fountain Pens Past & Present

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is not your usual coffee table book that elicits a sigh of possessiveness or, at best, a hope to one day procure the impossibly difficult to find pens, not to say unaffordable! I like Erano's book because it gives one the WORKS-- it tells us how to BECOME and flourish as fountain pen collectors. Of course, it does pay a good deal of attention to the zoological aspect of the hobby (or should I say passion), classifies pens and so forth, but to me the chief value of the book lies in its reality aspect, it gives us tips to be realistic collectors of any age or income group, and not just the snotty set looking for a psychological backup for their already rich and varied collection. In these days of online auctions (ebay and penbid come easily to mind), a book such as Erano's is not only a necessary tool (I have in mind the section on pen repair), but also a amply sufficient one. In particular, I would strongly urge you to not invest money in those highly regarded mindless "pretty pictures" books that cost about 5 to 8 times what this great book costs. I have them also, but i like Erano's the best!

This great book covers all the bases. It starts with a history of fountain pen development. This section is fairly brief but is thorough for its length. It gives a lot of interesting and necessary knowledge of how pens changed over the years. The book also covers how to collect, where to find them, storage and display, repairs, selecting a pen for use, inks, paper, and how to value pens. These sections are necessarily not encyclopedic but they do give all a person needs to get a good start with each of those subjects.

Then there is a nice, in depth discussion of the Major Manufacturers & Their Classics. This section is an excellent article about 7 of the most well known pen makers and their most successful or notable developments and pen models. It's also another look at the history of fountain pens. Of course, some people would say there should be other makers included, but I don't think anyone would say that these 7 don't belong here.

The rest and biggest part of the book is devoted to pictures of specific pens and a value for them. Most of the pictures are colored. The section is broken down into:

Early Fountain Pens
The Golden Age
The Modern Age
Contemporary Fountain Pens

The pictures are EXCELLENT! There are some representative reproductions of old fountain pen ads that give a good feel of the older pen era and also are valuable in identifying some pen models. These ad pictures are sprinkled through the book but are not overdone.

The pen prices, of course, go out of date fast but they do give an idea of the relative value of the pens. The prices are also given in retail, not street prices. This is a minor fault that is just about unavoidable in a book of this type. Prices would have to be issued at close intervals to remain current and street prices are nearly impossible to keep up with.

In my opinion, this is a classic book and the best I've seen about fountain pens. I don't see a single major fault. The quality of binding and printing is excellent also. While not a coffee table book as such and much more valuable, it could double for that if opened to the fine color pictures.

Fascinating comprehensive pen book with over 1,200 full color sharp photos of every type of fountain pen. Includes many old ads and printed materials. Interesting articles cover important topics such as, development of the fountain pen, building a collection, where to find them, storage and display, refurbishing and repairing them, inks, major makers and much more. Pen values are provided. A delightful hardback book with colorful laminated covers. You don't have to be a pen collector to enjoy this book.

I think I own every book ever written about vintage and modern fountain pen collecting. Without a doubt, Paul Erano has written the most enjoyable book I own.

A nice book, I was looking for a referance book, where I could look up different pens and learn about them.

This is not the book for referance, it has NO table of contents, which is a real shame. Otherwise it would be fine.

This gentleman knows pens and enjoys them. The picures and guides are perfect for the novice or professional collector.

This is a very informative book and a must have for collectors. It provides a sound foundation on a wide variety of fountain pens, their value and is an invaluable general reference for any collector. I find myself opening it at lease weekly.

This is the book for you, if you are fascinated by fountain pens and all their beauty, and would like to know them better, but did not know where to start. It is very clearly written, thoroughly documented and well-organized, and profusely illustrated. The photographs are excellent and there is a lot of practical information for would-be collectors.

This is a concise and extremely well written overview of the pleasures and pitfalls in collecting fountain pens. Considering its low price, it is an excellent value. It is an ideal introduction for the novice to collecting writing instruments, but also provides gems of information that would be of interest to anyone from non-collector to the intrepid long time pen collector,

An excellent book for those folks, like me, new to the Fountain Pen Collecting hobby. Does a good job comprehensively covering the development of the fountain pen while showing many differenct models from different companies. Lots of additional information as well. I was happy to meet the author, Paul Erano, at my first pen show in Raleigh NC earler this month. He autographed my book and I enjoyed seeing the real pens at the show. Just reading this book got me plenty of background knowledge and made the show far more enjoyable and taught me good questions to ask while acquiring pens. Organization might be improved some, but overall highly recommended.