WATERMAN STENOGRAPHER FOUNTAIN PEN, LONG THIN EYEDROPPER 1930s, EXTRA-FLEX NIB

Description

Waterman Stenographer's pen, circa late '30s or early '40s.
This is a rare specialist pen made by Waterman for practitioners of Pitman shorthand. Not only was its fine flexible nib suitable for the thick and thin strokes needed for Pitman, its extra long shape and eyedrop filling system gave it the large ink capacity needed by court reporters. The eyedropper system had long been abandoned for Waterman's other models, yet it was retained for this specialized pen. The hard rubber material was also anachronistic. The pen was suitable for artists and calligraphers as well. Now it's been adopted by modern fans of flexible nibs.
These are quite hard to find. In over 30 years of collecting -- and looking specifically for fine flexible nibs -- I've only had three. Like all of them I've seen, it has a '20s nickel clip, the '30s or '40s imprint, and the '30s round breather hole on the nib. The only feature I haven't seen before is the feed, which differs from Waterman feeds I've seen of any era, though it fits perfectly and has the appropriate wear and fading.
The nib has the expected characteristics of the Stenographer's pen -- it's very fine, with elegant elongated tines. It's very flexible but not sloppily so, allowing for the right amount of control. When put to paper it will make downstrokes of about 1.1mm without much strain. It's perfect for pointed-pen calligraphy styles like spencerian and copperplate. See the writing sample.
The pen shows some wear and lots of fading -- it has faded to an uneven brown color.
Eyedrop filler. To fill, you unscrew the section and put ink directly into the barrel. The section unscrews as it should. Length about 6  1/16 inches.
(The wristwatch and the Duofold Senior are not included.)
The writing samples were made with the pen itself, dipped in Waterman Intense Black ink, on a Rhodia pad.
ITEM 4118
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