Esterbrook Educator #855 Pen Nib (Vintage)

This never-used, century-old pen is an Esterbrook Educator #855. Our batch was manufactured in the 1920s, when steel pens were the most popular way to write. Beautifully hand-ground at an immense scale (each worker ground thousands and thousands of pens per day), some unused examples still survive from old retail stock and sealed boxes in artists' basements.

The Educator is a great example of why dip pens deserve more appreciation today. It's a medium-fine point with excellent flexibility, allowing the writer to make consistent, casual cursive or big, swelling calligraphic strokes—all with one pen.

As with any dip pen, you will need to remove the protective coating so that ink will stick to the nib consistently. To remove the coating, simply dip your new pen in ink a couple of times and wipe it off. Repeat until the ink coats the nib completely and doesn't bead up. This process takes about 15 seconds and only needs to be done once, before you use the pen for the first time.

Sold individually. Made in the United States.

About R: Esterbrook & Co.:

Founded in 1856, R. Esterbrook & Co. was the United States' very first manufacturer of steel dip pens. Formerly, these important 19th century tools had to be imported from Europe, but Richard Esterbrook brought expertise and craftspeople from England and opened a factory in Philadelphia.

For over 100 years until the company finally went out of business in 1970, Esterbrook produced the finest steel pens in the country, with a level of quality and a range of shapes that would put contemporary nib manufacturers to shame. Whenever we're able to get our hands on a vintage batch of Esterbrook pens, we're excited to offer them to you. Supplies, of course, are limited.