This sequel to Fountain Pens of the World provides a comprehensive history of the fountain pen and its manufacturers in Japan. With a large-page format the book includes over 1,700 pictures, the majority of them specially commissioned photographs, and shows the largest number and widest variety of Japanese pens ever published in a book. All the pens are life-size for easy identification.
The development of writing implements in Japan from 1880 to 2012 is described in depth. The number of manufacturers and pens documented exceeds that in any other book on the subject. Key period advertisements and rare catalogue pages are included to compliment the text and the pen pictures.
Emphasis is given to the age-old art of lacquering an in particular the art of maki-e, in which Japanese artists excel. The fascinating techniques and applications of natural urushi lacquer and other precious materials are described and illustrated with pictures of work processes and maki-e pens. These pens convey, with intense immediacy, how beautiful an instrument the fountain pen can be.
Fountain pens of Japan is the nearest approximation possible to an encyclopedia of the fountain pen and its industry in Japan. It constitutes an indispensable sourcebook for collectors, designers, traders, retailers, investors, and devotees of fountain pens in general.
448 page
309 x 225 mm,
ISBN 978-0-9571723-0-2