Self-Introduction - Hullo from England

[Cob]

Greetings to all.

As the blurb I have entered in my profile explains, I have recently become overwhelmed by fountain-pen mania, despite always having liked them - at a distance. This has coincided with a burgeoning interest in Calligraphy; I am practising hard, but it's very tough going!

I am principally interested in English pens, Swans being my favourites - endless variety there. I have only been "bitten" since April, but already have eleven Swans, plus some more English pens - Wyverns (5) Croxleys (2 + two in bits) and so on. I look forward to finding out more about pens internationally here, and I hope joining in with the chat in what looks to be a happy place!

[Tracy Lee]

Hi Cob, I think happy is a good way to describe the forum. Glad to have you with us. We look forward to hearing more about your calligraphy practice and your pens!

[VertOlive]

Welcome Cob--you may be giving the swannery at Abbottsbury a run for their money with all those Swans! Hope to see some pics of your pens and calligraphy if you're game!

[caribbean_skye]

welcome welcome. Eleven swans and only bitten since April, i am impressed! Can't wait to hear about your Wyverns and Croxleys. Don't own a Swan yet, but it is on my list.

[Cob]

Hi Cob, I think happy is a good way to describe the forum. Glad to have you with us. We look forward to hearing more about your calligraphy practice and your pens!

Thank you Tracy Lee for the warm welcome; er... the less said about my calligraphy the better - at least for now!

It's always easy to gas about pens though; less easy is fixing them sometimes!

Best wishes

Cob

[Cob]

Welcome Cob--you may be giving the swannery at Abbottsbury a run for their money with all those Swans! Hope to see some pics of your pens and calligraphy if you're game!

Hullo and thanks for the welcome.

Now, then if I can work the gizmo, there should appear a picture of three graceful grey Swans...guess what?

Sorry, doesn't work: I clicked 'Upload', having selected a file, and nothing happened. So I tried again, and nothing happened!

Sorry,

Best wishes

Cob

[Cob]

welcome welcome. Eleven swans and only bitten since April, i am impressed! Can't wait to hear about your Wyverns and Croxleys. Don't own a Swan yet, but it is on my list.

Hullo, and thanks for your greeting.

At present I cannot work the upload for pictures, otherwise I'd oblige. As for Swans, quite a good choice for a collector or enthusiast, many of them have wonderful nibs, and there were so many models it's a wonder they didn't bankrupt themselves. Croxley was almost the opposite - very few types and they manufactured pens only for a few years just after the Second World War. They were good quality pens, probably under-rated actually, with nibs usually semi-flexible. Most of them seem to have been black but attractive marbled ones appear from time to time. The gold plating was decent too; you don't see many "copper" clips! Wyvern is a big subject as the company lasted a long time; plenty of information on Deb's blog: Goodwriters Pens.

If some kind person could explain why the picture upload doesn't work I'd be most grateful!

Best wishes,
Cob

[Jeph]

[RuiFromUK]

Welcome to the forum. You will be in good company here.

Mabie Todd are fantastic vintage pens and very popular.

[Cob]

welcome welcome. Eleven swans and only bitten since April, i am impressed! Can't wait to hear about your Wyverns and Croxleys. Don't own a Swan yet, but it is on my list.

Welcome to the forum. You will be in good company here.

Mabie Todd are fantastic vintage pens and very popular.

Thank you for your welcome; as for Mabie, Todd & Co., I agree!

best wishes

Cob

[Cob]

welcome welcome. Eleven swans and only bitten since April, i am impressed! Can't wait to hear about your Wyverns and Croxleys. Don't own a Swan yet, but it is on my list.

Welcome to the forum. You will be in good company here.

Mabie Todd are fantastic vintage pens and very popular.

I have found it impossible to post photos here after spending at least an hour on it. However I can offer a link to the picture of three Grey Swans (they actually look a bit blue but they are actually perfect grey thought the top one is very slightly discoloured, a common problem with grey Swans.

Top to bottom: 3130, 3230, 4230 (leverless) https://www.flickr.com/photos/62724617@N00/14144577010/

Cob

[Cob]

Grey Swans.jpgWyvern 20s.JPG[QUOTE=Cob;82338]

Welcome to the forum. You will be in good company here.

Mabie Todd are fantastic vintage pens and very popular.

Well now, it seems that this forum does not like Chrome; I have arrived this time via IE, and "stuff" seems to work...

Try now to upload pictures:

First the Swans (horrid photo - sorry) Top to bottom: 3130, 3230, 4230 (leverless)
followed by a small snap of my Wyvern 7N from the 1920s.
I should add that I did not make the Wyvern photograph and cannot remember the name of the photographer; I freely acknowledge the copyright to whoever it was!


Best wishes and thanks for your patience,

Cob

[Holsworth]

[RuiFromUK]

Welcome to the forum. You will be in good company here.

Mabie Todd are fantastic vintage pens and very popular.

Well now, it seems that this forum does not like Chrome; I have arrived this time via IE, and "stuff" seems to work...

Try now to upload pictures:

First the Swans (horrid photo - sorry) Top to bottom: 3130, 3230, 4230 (leverless)
followed by a small snap of my Wyvern 7N from the 1920s.
I should add that I did not make the Wyvern photograph and cannot remember the name of the photographer; I freely acknowledge the copyright to whoever it was!


Best wishes and thanks for your patience,

Cob

Very nice of Swan pens Cob. Now you making me jealous.

Just a question (or two) please? Is it possible to show them with the caps removed I love to look at the nibs too. Just curious to see if any of them is a Calligraph model which also came out with the same colour (and should be engraved 'Calligraph' on the barrel as well.

[Cob]

Baby Swan 3.jpgBaby Swan 2.jpgQuote: "Just a question (or two) please? Is it possible to show them with the caps removed I love to look at the nibs too. Just curious to see if any of them is a Calligraph model which also came out with the same colour (and should be engraved 'Calligraph' on the barrel as well."

Hullo, yes I can do that. Perhaps tonight. No, none of them is a Calligraph - I don't think anyway that Calligraphs were supplied in grey. I have a Calligraph (black), which does have a nice nib - but it's not a Swan one! I have never tried the Swan nib but I am told that they are often not very nice. Aubrey West ( "Written by Hand") was the man behind the Calligraph and he was of the Alfred Fairbank school that favoured hard nibs with straight edges for their italic writing. Perhaps the hard nibs put people off? If you fancy seeing a Calligraph nib there's one for sale on ebay - a nib I mean (Has a C on it!) listed just as Swan nib I think; here it is: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...E:B:SS:GB:3160

Meanwhile this one, a SF100-B arrived yesterday; I have christened it The Cygnet as it is a baby: just 11cm long (say 4 3/8")!

More later perhaps, though this thread is now becoming off-topic for this section!

Cob

[jokeruk]

Welcome cob - I too am a recent convert to fountains pens.

However I've got nowhere near the pens you have yet (although all my money is going on new stuff for a house move at the moment).

Whereabouts in England are you? I'm in the north west, just outside of Warrington.

[RuiFromUK]

I agree with you. This is getting a bit off-topic.

[Cob]

Hullo,

I have spent money I shouldn't have on pens I don't need - I just seem to WANT them. (I have five for sale on ebay at the moment!) I'm in Berkshire near Reading.

If you want you start a thread in a suitable place, let me know about it and I'll reply!

Cob

[TerraNoir]

[Cob]

Thank you.

best wishes,

Cob