Calligraphy Corner

Calligraphy is the art of lettering that has existed almost as long as the written word. Calligraphy can be practiced using almost any alphabet, and thus can be found in documents from China, Japan, medieval European monks, the United States and many other places. Teaching children calligraphy can help improve penmanship and encourage creativity and attention to detail. Activities will help students practice their calligraphy regularly. These activities don't require special calligraphy tools, although calligraphy pens with slanted tips can be used.

The French believe that giving children the ability to write will free their minds to perform creatively throughout their lives. So they teach handwriting as a subject in its own right. And they teach handwriting in a uniform way throughout primary schools, using traditional calligraphy to produce a distinctive, ornate hand.

Sheaffer and Lamy both offer options to use as introductions into the world of calligraphy.

http://www.penboutique.com/lamy-joy-calligraphy-fountain-pen-set-l15s.html
http://www.penboutique.com/lamy-joy-white-gift-set.html
http://www.penboutique.com/sheaffer-calligraphy-mini-kit.html
http://www.penboutique.com/sheaffer-calligraphy-maxi-kit.html

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Letter Writing Quotes

Never write a letter while you are angry.  ~Chinese Proverb

Then there's the joy of getting your desk clean, and knowing that all your letters are answered, and you can see the wood on it again.  ~Lady Bird Johnson

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.  ~Walt Whitman

If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison

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History of Collecting Autographs

The joy of collecting autographs on signed letters, books, memorabilia and good old fashioned autograph books has long been satisfying hobby for the serious and novice alike. In this fast-paced world of electronic communication personal collections of the past offer the unique satisfaction of holding pieces of history, quite literally, in our hands.

Autographs bring moments in time to life, often with incredible power. The window they open onto the past helps us better understand a person or event of importance to us. Autographs let us feel an individual's presence, experience his or her joy or sadness, inspiration or frustration, exultation or despair. In short, at their best, autographs convey the essence of an individual's personality. There are multiple clubs, magazines and blogs devoted to the subject.

For many people, collecting autographs is a stimulating and absorbing pastime. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for example, often turned to his autograph collection as a distraction from the pressures of the presidency. Others find autographs a way to learn more about the people and circumstances that especially intrigue them. Some present autographs as memorable gifts, delighting in their recipients' pleasure at owning a memento of an admired individual.

The word autograph comes from Greek meaning to “self write". It is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author as opposed to a typeset document or one written by a copyist the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.

Autograph also refers to a famous person's artistic signature; this term is used in particular for the practice of collecting autographs of celebrities. The hobby of collecting autographs is known as philography. What might be considered the oldest "autograph" is a clay table from about 3100 BC which includes the name of the scribe. No ancient written autographs have been found, and the earliest one known for a major historical figure is that of El Cid from 1098.

If you are the one providing the autograph, do yourself a favor and invest in a nice writing instrument. It doesn’t matter if the ink is blue or black, if the barrels is thick or thin, just choose something that you love and that makes you feel like an author!

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Ferrari

The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is the Cavallino Rampante ("prancing horse") black prancing stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari), with three stripes of green, white and red (the Italian national colors) at the top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the hood (see picture at top of page), and, optionally, the shield-shaped race logo on the sides of both front wings, close to the door.

On 17 June 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, an ace of the Italian Air Force and national hero of World War I, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck. The original "prancing horse" on Baracca's airplane was painted in red on a white cloud-like shape, but Ferrari chose to have the horse in black (as it had been painted as a sign of grief on Baracca's squadron planes after the pilot was killed in action) and he added a canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace. The Ferrari horse was, from the very beginning, markedly different from the Baracca horse in most details, the most noticeable being the tail that in the original Baracca version was pointing downward. The motif of a prancing horse is old, it can be found on ancient coins. A similar black horse on a yellow shield is the Coat of Arms of the German city of Stuttgart
Sheaffer Ferrari offers a variety of affordable pens sporting the Ferrari logo and they are a distinctive way to celebrate the brand.

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Ink Trivia

Ink Trivia

The ink cartridge for fountain pens was introduced around 1950. It was a disposable, pre-filled plastic or glass cartridge designed for clean & easy insertion. They were an immediate success. The introduction of ballpoints, however, overshadowed the invention of the cartridge. Fountain pens today sell as a classic writing instrument and the original pens have become a very hot collectible. 

International Standard cartridges are a common pattern in use by most European and Japanese fountain pen manufacturers. Fountain pens designs will adopt one of two approaches for cartridges: proprietary designs that force you to buy that brand of cartridge, ensuring they receive the ongoing income from refills; or the standard design, which gives you a choice of cartridge brands to use in your pen.

There are two versions of the international standard cartridge - 'short' 38mm cartridges and 'long' 73mm cartridges. Most pens will accept either, and many are designed to accommodate two short cartridges - one in use and one spare in the barrel. This should ensure that you don't run out of ink unexpectedly. A few very compact fountain pens can only use the short version. 

Pen Boutique offers a variety of ink cartridges for fountain pens. Private Reserve offers the most variety color selections in a universal short option that fits most pens. How many different ink colors does Private Reserve offer?

hint:http://www.penboutique.com/private-reserve-inks.html

Answer: 44 different colors

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Pen Trivia

                                                                        Pen Names:  

A pen name is a pseudonym adopted by an author. It is used to make the author’s name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or the aesthetic presentation of the work. The author’s name may be known only to the publisher, or may come to be common knowledge.  See if you can match the real names with the pen names!

Real Name

1.)    Stephen King

2.)   Samuel Clemens

3.)   Chloe Anthony Wofford

4.)   Anne Rampling

5.)   William Sydney Porter

6.)   Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

7.)   Daniel Handler

8.)   Allen Stewart Konigsberg

9.)   Eric Arthur Blair

10.) Mary Ann Evans

Pen Name

1.)    Lewis Carroll

2.)   Anne Rice

3.)   George Eliot

4.)   O. Henry

5.)   Woody Allen

6.)   George Orwell

7.)   Richard Bachman

8.)   Toni Morrison

9.)   Lemony Snicket

10.) Mark Twain

Pen name answers:

1.)    - #7

2.)   - #10

3.)    - #8

4.)    - #2

5.)   - #4

6.)   - #1

7.)   - #9

8.)   - #5

9.)    - #6

10.) - #3

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