Waterman 14 Psf - 1915 - R. Austin Freeman(?)

[kurus]

The presentation I am going to let you in the limit of my ability will have different aims: the first aim is to show my point of view on this model, then you will have as much as possible detailed measures and descriptions; The second purpose is to locate and contextualize this model in the history of Waterman and fountain pens, then followed by a discussion on my copy, which, will possibly bring us to something interesting.

I apologize in advance for the setting inconsistency but in my pictures but, I had to agree, that some details are more easily in sunlight while others are better off using artificial lighting. I'm not really a genius in photography.

The model

Lightweight but robust the Waterman 14 PSF (Pocket Self-Filler) is the first pen produced by Waterman between 1915 and 1917 with lever filler. This pen is not to be confused with the more common Waterman # 14, in fact, according to the old Waterman’s nomenclature, # 1 is to indicate a safety-filler and 4 indicate the size of the nib; the 14 PSF, however, in addition to mount a lever filler has a 2 size nib (at least in my copy) which I can not guarantee originality.

Another distinction is between pens of the same model but different series (for further details Link).

Made by black hard rubber this pen has a 11 cm long body including the section perfectly cylindrical with a constant diameter of 11 mm up to just before the bottom when the diameter shrinks slightly. The body is decorated with classic machine incisions that characterize Waterman production for the period (which unfortunately or fortunately on my copy are very worn).

At the center of the body, on opposite sides we find: an engraving on 3 rows

PATENTED Oct.9.1906

WATERMAN FOUNTAIN-

PEN CANADA FEB.9.1909

With the IDEAL logo in the middle...

...and the filling lever made with golden metal on which we find, instead of the usual Waterman ideal logo, simply a 'W', also here I’m not able to guarantee originality.

The thread for the cap camouflages the joint between the body and the section, with a beautiful shape of the glass stem, it folds towards the nib with a soft, smooth lip.

On the opposite side, on the flat bottom are engraved on two lines:

14

PSF

[To be continued on the next post]

 

[kurus]

The cap is flat on top and has the same engravings of the body, it has in the middle 4 vent holes and ends its length of 55 mm with an engraved ring and a lip.

The experience of writing is entrusted to a spoon feeder in hard rubber and a beautiful 14-carat gold nib semi flexible bearing in the center the engravings:

WATERMAN’S

IDEAL

CANADA

2

On the right shoulder FDW who is going to Frank D. Waterman, grandson of Mr. Lewis Edison Waterman remembered for having transformed Waterman in one the big four and on the left between two obscure symbols - which I hope the more experienced help me to identify - the incisions 14 and 585 that indicate anything but the purity of gold.

The tip, M sized, seems to be a kugelspitz; a particular tip that allows to write on both sides of the nib to obtain a finer stroke or a most abundant at will.

[To be continued on the next post]

[kurus]

My exemplar

Now, the hardest part of the job. If you are interested only at the model itself you can stop reading, you don’t need to go on.

Everything has begun when, coming back home from the Portobello road market where I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Henry Simpole, I’ve noticed the engraving on the band on the barrel.

I’ve just searched “R. Austin” on the internet and I’ve found one page on Wikipedia that talks about Richard Austin Freeman.

Now, the pen was actually manufactured and gifted to this mysterious Mr. Austin for Christmas in 1915 that is compatible with our famous writer but the date format makes me thing about a pen actually coming from the USA.

Plus I’ve found out on the internet that Mr. R. Austin Freeman was son of Mr. Richard Freeman, a tailor in Soho; I’ve actually been in Soho but I’ve not managed to find the roots of Mr. R. Austin Freeman’s genealogical tree that I could have climbed to find one of his descendant that could have possibly helped me to link this pen to his ancestor.

So, talking about this with a dear friend of mine he suggested me to write on this forum where Mr. Simpole is an actual member and could give me some informations on where he has found this pen just to help me in this research or someone else can give me whatever information on the writer or on the pen. I solemnly swear that I’ll use this informations only to know something more about this pen and the mysterious R. Freeman.

I think that it would be great to find out that the first words written by this pen almost one century ago are:

Thank you for reading me,

Ciro

[alfredop]

Beautiful review Ciro.

 

Alfredo

[Vintagepens]

The letter stamped on the end of the lever is an "M". The lever box assembly is not original, but is from a Mentmore.

 

Frank D. Waterman was the nephew, not the grandson, of Lewis Edson Waterman.

 

Lots of Waterman info on the PSF series at the Vintage Pen News blog.

[kurus]

The letter stamped on the end of the lever is an "M". The lever box assembly is not original, but is from a Mentmore.

 

Frank D. Waterman was the nephew, not the grandson, of Lewis Edson Waterman.

 

Lots of Waterman info on the PSF series at the Vintage Pen News blog.

Hello Vintagepens,

thanks for your reply.

Regarding the leverbox I have thought that it was not original, now I have a confirm. I'll look for an original one.

 

For the nephew thing I'm sorry, it has been a translation mistake, but now I can't edit my posts.

Regards,

Ciro

[Truffle Finder]

I certainly do not want to get into any kind of controversy over a trivial matter, but I have never seen a Mentmore pen with a 'boxed lever' marked with an 'M' on the end of the 'lollipop'! I have however seen a few Waterman's pens with such a replacement lever mechanism, and I had always assumed that it could have been a later replacement [done by the Waterman's repair department].

With regards to the gold band on the barrel of this pen, I would have thought that it was more than likely that there is a North American connection, because they tend to write the 'month/day/year' in that order, whereas in the UK, it is written as:- 'day/month/year'. It could be that the pen was ordered here in England, and maybe the band was engraved in the Waterman's factory in N America, although I think that this would be an unnecessary complication, in this investigation!

Incidentally, when did the Waterman's factory start production in the UK, before or after 1915?

It is only my personal opinion, but I don't think that the Wikipedia enquiry has anything to do with finding out who was the recipient of this pen. 'R. Austin Freeman', surely would have been engraved 'in full' on the gold band, if that was the person's name?

Truffle Finder. [AKA Henry Simpole]

[peterg]

I would question the 'M' as it is upside down on the lever, so more likely a 'W'.

 

I didn't think Waterman started manufacturing in England until about 1948. Before that they used local manufacturers (as Parker's did). It is assumed to be mainly Altura as they subsequently bought the company and used their factory for about a year, but it might just have been that the opportunity arose to buy an established manufacturer.

[Truffle Finder]

That's really quite interesting, something that I didn't realise about Watermans, not being established here in the UK until 1948.

But it might well explain why the engraved date on the gold band was written in the in the N.American manner!

Truffle Finder.

[Vintagepens]

I just sent off a note to Steve Hull, asking about the lever box. Someone told me years ago that they were from Mentmores, but that's what one gets for relying on collector hearsay. The letter, whether "M" or "W", is nothing like anything Waterman was using when it comes to typeface style, so I find it hard to believe that Waterman UK would have had replacement levers made up in that form.

 

Note that the pen here is Canadian production, not USA. Most Canada-made Watermans were destined for export to the UK, Empire, and Commonwealth.

 

As for the name, I wholly concur: there is surely no omitted last name in this engraving.

[kurus]

Hello Truffle Finder,

nice to meet you on this "virtual reality" too. I'd have come to visit you last saturday but I had no time. By the wai we'll see often, it's a promise.

 

Let's talk about this pen.

Regarding the lever I've checked on the internet and i can't seem to find a Mentmore lever filler with the lollipop-like lever, Actually the mentmore logo usually engraved on the clip is an 'M' in a sort of capitalia quadrata style that really looks like the one on the Montblanc's nibs. Another thing that makes me thing of a not-Mentmore part is the fact that the hypotetical 'M' would be upside-down according all the other engravings on the pen that doesn't make sense to me.

I'm assuming that you've found this pen with this lever already on it that could actually been explained with a breaking due to a really intensive use.

 

Now the ring band. I don't know how peolpe used to buy a Waterman pen in the UK in 1915, I've seen some italian ads of that period (actually 1916) saying "The WATERMAN'S IDEAL is sold in the main stationery shops of the kingdom" (obviously the old italian kingdom) so I don't think that peolpe usually ordered it directly from the N America. This could confirm the hypotesis of a pen actually coming from N America in the pocket of an actual north american person called "R. Austin".

Now, regarding the name, I don't know if you actually have a long name but I have 4 names 1 patronymic and 3 family names composing my full name and I don't really think that someone planning to gift me a pen for christmas would really put 2 A4 rows on a this little band so omitting the last name could make sense.

 

Regards,

Ciro

[Jerome Tarshis]

I don't pretend to know what Italians do about long names. In the English-speaking world, which is where I grew up, we abbreviate by using initials. Thus, a pen given to the playwright George Bernard Shaw might be inscribed GBS or G. B. Shaw but would not be inscribed G. Bernard.

 

I write this under correction: if all the old-pen hobbyists of England and North America are laughing at me, I'm sorry to have put a foot wrong.

 

Now, regarding the name, I don't know if you actually have a long name but I have 4 names 1 patronymic and 3 family names composing my full name and I don't really think that someone planning to gift me a pen for christmas would really put 2 A4 rows on a this little band so omitting the last name could make sense.

[Vintagepens]

I don't pretend to know what Italians do about long names. In the English-speaking world, which is where I grew up, we abbreviate by using initials. Thus, a pen given to the playwright George Bernard Shaw might be inscribed GBS or G. B. Shaw but would not be inscribed G. Bernard.

 

I write this under correction: if all the old-pen hobbyists of England and North America are laughing at me, I'm sorry to have put a foot wrong.

 

Don't think anyone is about to laugh -- your comment is entirely correct.

 

Steve Hull said he'd check further on the lever box ID. He noted that if these were made as replacement parts, they could have been made by any English maker -- Altura being a logical and likely candidate.

[kurus]

 

I don't pretend to know what Italians do about long names. In the English-speaking world, which is where I grew up, we abbreviate by using initials. Thus, a pen given to the playwright George Bernard Shaw might be inscribed GBS or G. B. Shaw but would not be inscribed G. Bernard.

 

I write this under correction: if all the old-pen hobbyists of England and North America are laughing at me, I'm sorry to have put a foot wrong.

 

Hello Jerome,

thank you so much for this answer. In Italy things works a little bit different and in a confusing manner as well: I have 3 friends having 1 name and 2 family name, they all use only their first name and their first family name; my sister has 2 names and only one family name and she uses her entire first name, her second name pointed and the entire family name; one of my cousins has my exact same complete name except for his patronymic and uses his complete first name and his patronymic; I simply use my first name and my first family surname.

 

I dont know if there is an actual rule for this in Italy.

 

So, again on the pen, it definitively didn't belong to Mr. R. A. Freeman (is it correct? ).It's a pity, it woud have been a big honour for me.

 

in the meantime, what about the nib? Is it correct to have a size 2 nib on a 14 PSF?

[Vintagepens]

A 14 PSF would have left the factory with a #2-size nib.

[kurus]

A 14 PSF would have left the factory with a #2-size nib.

So the nib is original, fine.

 

And - excuse me if I ask so many questions but it's the desire to learn that writes for me - why is it called "14 PSF"?

I mean: PSF is for Pocket Self-Filler and there's nothing to explain but why 14? Is it only for the size of the barrel?

[Vintagepens]

A 14 PSF would have left the factory with a #2-size nib.

 

Very sorry -- mistyped the response and cannot now correct it.

It would have left the factory with a #4 nib, not a #2.

The last digit denotes the nib size.

[Vintagepens]

You can read about Waterman's numbering system here.

[kurus]

So, just as i thought, the nib is not original. I'll look for an original one.

[Truffle Finder]

Kurus, I hate to try to dampen your enthusiasm, but I think that you will find [as indeed I did, when I dismantled the pen to get it serviced] that the nib that is in the pen as it is now, is indeed a number two sized nib, but it is the same length and curvature as a number four sized Waterman's nib.

Whether Waterman's at some point in their manufacturing time decided to change the numbering of their nibs, I am not qualified to say, but I am a little surprised that you now want to change the nib purely because of the number which has been stamped on it!

To save you going to a great deal of trouble, I have plenty of number four Waterman's nibs, and would exchange one of them for such a flexible one such as the one that you have in your pen! I was under the impression that you chose the pen because of that nib!

Truffle Finder.