Customer Reviews

Fountain Pens : United States of America and United Kingdom

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4 star:		(2)
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For the novice and experienced collector both, this book is Andy's finest yet. By dividing out the US and UK manufacturers, this book provides even greater detail and scale images, as well as historical reference of vintage and modern pens from all of the significant pen makers of the last 100 years. The images (both photos and line images) are the best available to-date, and an invaluable reference to the serious collector.

This and other Lambrou books have been described as invaluable references for the collector. I agree, for the most part. The photos and line drawings in this volume are excellent and the text gives detailed history of each manufacturer's models and variations within models. What is missing is a value guide for the pens listed. I'm sure the most serious collectors find such information unnecesary, but I believe that newer or more casual collectors would find pricing benchmarks useful as they muddle through eBay and other auction sites.

Andreas Lambrou has once again produced an authoritative text on fountain pens. It is relatively comprehensive and has spectacluar photographs and line drawings. This is an excellent guide to learn the history of fountain pens and to identify fountain pens. While there can be no doubt that Mr. Lambrou cares very much about fountain pens, this does not come through in his prose style. Writing is straightforward and clear, but does not connect fountain pens to social history, industrial design, or the just plain joy of writing. Inclusion of several pages on the work of Classic Pens, Mr. Lambrou's own firm, which are of limited interest is a questionable decision.