Blogging Woolf

Last week, I wrote about the Virginia Woolf cookie cutter. This week, I am writing about the Virginia Woolf pen. Or to be more accurate, I am embedding Matthew Holliday‘s Oct. 21 tweets about the Bloomsbury group, Virginia Woolf, and fountain pens.

A limited edition Woolf pen

But first let me mention the Writers Edition Virginia Woolf Montblanc pen set, which pays tribute to The Waves. Launched in 2006 in a limited edition, the run included 4,000 sets including a ballpoint pen, fountain pen, and mechanical pencil, as well as 16,000 fountain pens and 18,000 ballpoint pens.

Out of range

None of them are currently for sale on the Montblanc website. But you can find them on ebay at prices ranging from $499 for the ballpoint to $3,450 for the set.

We can all put the pen on our wish list. Sadly, few of us will find our wish coming true. The cookie cutter, however, is infinitely more affordable.

The Bloomsbury Group and Fountain Pens. A Thread. pic.twitter.com/9NbeO9RV1j

— Matthew Holliday (@MHolliday_Esq) October 21, 2019

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In 1906 Strachey was writing literary criticism for the Spectator using a fountain pen nicknamed ‘Venus’. Photographs of Strachey’s library at Ham Spray suggest that he used either Waterman’s or Parker ink (black). When staying at Garsington Manor he used a large feather quill. pic.twitter.com/QUAmjMHddR

— Matthew Holliday (@MHolliday_Esq) October 21, 2019

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Leonard Woolf mainly used Pelikan pens and Parker inks in a variety colours, from black and blue-black, to turquoise and red (as can be seen at @MonksHouseNT). pic.twitter.com/XkxlVh2dQz

— Matthew Holliday (@MHolliday_Esq) October 21, 2019

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If you visit @CharlestonTrust you might notice on Vanessa Bell’s desk a bottle of black Waterman ink. That particular bottle/label was only made in France during the 1950s. Yep. She also used purple ink from time to time. Which brings us onto… pic.twitter.com/X2tkUod79H

— Matthew Holliday (@MHolliday_Esq) October 21, 2019

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Woolf actually hated writing with a fountain pen. In a letter to Ethel Smyth dated 21 May 1934 she said: ‘…how can you write with a fountain pen? Disgusting, slippery, false, yet convenient.’ She much preferred a dip pen with an italic nib combined with Windsor & Newton inks. pic.twitter.com/C9ORe74skd

— Matthew Holliday (@MHolliday_Esq) October 21, 2019

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…Virginia Woolf. Famously Woolf wrote in purple ink (though she also used black and sometimes blue). Marion Dell has suggested that she liked purple ink as it was the colour her mother had used (Julia Stephen died in 1895). In any case, it’s more of a violet than a purple. pic.twitter.com/mYNQ2ttJtT

— Matthew Holliday (@MHolliday_Esq) October 21, 2019

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