One of the most enjoyable aspects of dealing in old writing instruments is how there is inevitably something new to be learned. The dip pen shown above is a French-made souvenir item that was very popular from the late 19th century into the first few decades of the 20th. Its key feature is a Stanhope viewer set into the turned bone shaft; when held up to the eye, the photograph within becomes visible -- most commonly, an image of an historic site or tourist landmark.
Listing a group of these pens in our catalog a while back, I realized that I needed to know a bit more about Stanhopes. Jean Scott's
Stanhopes: A Closer View was very informative about the details of history and production (the link is to the Amazon listing, but I found a copy much cheaper on eBay), but didn't say much about how to photograph Stanhope images. Fortunately, Jean Scott's husband Ken explains the basics
here. So now I am keeping an eye out for a good deal on a basic microphotography setup -- yet another of so many projects!
Incidentally, you can still order custom Stanhope views and viewers. Take a look at
this site to learn more -- though be warned that their Stanhope pens and pencils are a lot more expensive than ours.
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