I find myself more and more drawn to mechanical pencils.  They come in such a variety of shapes and sizes and internally they show such ingenuity in making the lead available for writing.  Like fountain pens, they have a long history and were made by many well-known – even revered – manufacturers.

This is a Mordan Everpoint of around 1924, a pencil that is simplicity and elegance in itself.  Coming from the famous house of Mordan, the antecedents of this pencil go all the way back to 1822, when Sampson Mordan took out the first patent for a mechanical pencil.  At 11.2 cm it’s an average-sized pencil, making a virtue of the absence of unnecessary ornament.  The pencil has a reservoir for additional leads which opens by unscrewing the finial.  The barrel and hood can be easily slid off to insert a new lead.

Despite being among the best pencils ever produced, there has been a difficulty in using them in recent times.  Uniquely (or almost so), they use 1 mm leads and there have been periods when these were unavailable.  Thankfully they are available again now.