| The history of fountain pens is very fascinating and | | | | which controlled the flow of ink and the round barrel |
| can be traced back to the 18th century. Even | | | | which was to hold the nib and feed together. It was |
| though, Lewis Waterman was the first man to | | | | Lewis Waterman's idea to add an air hole in the nib |
| patent the very first practical fountain pen in 1884, | | | | and three grooves inside the feed mechanism, to |
| writing instruments designed to carry their own | | | | avoid ink spillage. |
| supply of ink had existed for over a 100 years. The | | | | All pens have an internal reservoir for ink and even |
| oldest known fountain pen which has survived to this | | | | the mechanism to fill the ink also underwent a |
| date was designed by a Frenchmen named M. Bion | | | | transformation along with the evolving fountain pen. |
| around 1702. Peregrin Williamson was the first | | | | Initially, eyedroppers were used for filling ink into the |
| American to receive the patent for fountain pens in | | | | pens. By 1915, most pens had a self-filling soft and |
| 1809. It was John Jacob Parker who patented the | | | | flexible rubber sac as an ink reservoir. To refill these |
| first self-filling fountain pen in 1831. The main problem | | | | pens, the reservoirs were squeezed flat by an |
| with the early fountain pen models was that they | | | | internal plate and the pen's nib was inserted into a |
| were plagued by ink spills and other such failures that | | | | bottle of ink. When the pressure on the internal plate |
| impaired their sales. | | | | was released, the ink sac would fill up drawing in a |
| Fountain pens were designed a 1000 years after the | | | | fresh supply of ink. Eventually, several different |
| usage of quill pens. Its mechanism was composed of | | | | patents were issued for the self-filling fountain pen |
| 3 parts- the nib, the feed or black part under the nib | | | | design. |