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Okay...so my question has a back story. Yesterday, I saw the photograph given below in a book. It is a picture of Abanindranath Tagore, master-painter and nephew of Rabindranath Tagore. He is writing something with a pen in this picture. Naturally, I tried to identify the pen in his hand but failed. I searched the Internet and took this screenshot of two pens used by Abanindranath (as labeled) from a virtual tour of Jorasanko Thakur Bari Museum. To me, these look like ballpoint pens. But A.N. Tagore died in 1951. He belonged to an aristocratic family and therefore using an imported ballpoint pen is not surprising. But, the pens appear to be made by indian craftsmen. (Similar pens are still made by bengali artisans of Shantiniketan in West Bengal). Where ballpoint pens manufactured in India before 1951? Even serious is the fact that if these pens were manufactured after '51 than the museum has labeled them wrongfully.

A third edition of Jaqueline Svaren's classic calligraphy reference book, "Written Letters," is about to be released. More details can be found in the Handwriting Section in the following topic: Enjoy! David

You may enjoy watching "The Twenty-Six Old Characters", a 1947 movie made by the W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company. http://youtu.be/1xUDehNvbrE This movie contains a brief history of writing from the use of pictures to the development and use of letters as well as a brief history of the development of pens. In addition, the movie includes a discussion of the function and workings of fountain pens and some filler systems. Of course, since the movie was made by the W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company, Sheaffer fans should particularly enjoy it. Can you identify the pens used in the movie? ; ) Enjoy! : )