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Read Ebook: The Lead Pencil Manufactory of A. W. Faber at Stein near Nürnberg Bavaria An Historical Sketch by Faber Castell Firm
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Ebook has 115 lines and 15955 words, and 3 pages
THE
LEAD PENCIL MANUFACTORY
STEIN NEAR N?RNBERG.
BAVARIA.
An historical sketch,
in commemoration of the Jubilee celebrated in the year 1861 to mark the completion of the first Century of the existence of the Establishment, dedicated by the Proprietor to his Patrons and Business friends.
MOSS & CO. FABER'S AGENTS FOR SIBERIAN PENCILS, No. 432 Chestnut Street, PHILADELPHIA.
DESCRIPTIVE LIST
FABER'S SIBERIAN LEAD PENCILS,
FOR ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, ARTISTS, WOOD ENGRAVERS, AND OFFICE USE.
Extra Soft and Extra Black, marked B B B B B B Very Soft and Very Black, " B B B Soft and Very Black, " B B or No. 1. Soft and Black, " B " No. 2. Hard and Black, " H B " No. 3. Middling, " F " No. 4. Hard, " H " No. 5. Harder, " H H Very Hard, " H H H Extra Hard, " H H H H H H
On cards, 10 pencils, one of each above grades.
In boxes, 7 do. do. do. B B B, B B, B, H B, F, H, H H. Do. 5 do. do. do. B B, B, H B, F, H. Do. 5 do. do. do. do. do.
Artists' Patent Pencils with moveable leads of all the grades.
Moveable leads, same quality, in boxes, containing six leads of any grade.
MOSS & CO.
Dealers in Drawing Instruments, Papers, Tracing Cloth, Tracing Paper, &c. No. 432 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA.
THE
LEAD PENCIL MANUFACTORY
STEIN NEAR N?RNBERG.
BAVARIA.
An historical sketch,
in commemoration of the Jubilee celebrated in the year 1861 to mark the completion of the first Century of the existence of the Establishment, dedicated by the Proprietor to his Patrons and Business friends.
N?rnberg. Printed by U. E. Sebald.
The lead pencil, as everyone knows, is an invention of modern times, and may unhesitatingly be placed side by side with the numerous improvements and inventions, by means of which the last three centuries in particular have so largely contributed towards the spread of Arts and Sciences and the facilitation of Study and Communication. To the classic ages and their art the pencil and in general every application of lead as a writing material was entirely unknown and it was first in the middle ages, as we hear, that lead was employed for this purpose. This metal however was by no means the same sort of thing as the black lead of our pencils, which are indeed only mentioned in conjunction of lead on account of the writing produced by them bearing some resemblance to lead. Besides which lead was then only used for ruling lines and in no instance for writing or drawing purposes. This leadruler was in form a sharpedged disc, such as is said to have been used for the same purpose even in the later periods of the classic ages.
On the other hand in Italy in the fourteenth century much drawing was done with styles composed of a mixture of lead and tin; drawings that could be effaced with bread crumb.
This invention, which conferred so many benefits not only upon practical life but also upon art, was made in England in the reign of Queen Elisabeth, for in the year 1564 the celebrated blacklead mines of Borrowdale in Cumberland were discovered. With the opening of this mine every element was present to render the developement of an extensive pencil trade upon English soil possible.
The Cumberland mine only remained open for six weeks in the year and yet the blacklead obtained in this short time is stated to have been of the value of ? 40,000 or One Million Francs each time.
The fact of the English Government having considered it expedient rigorously to prohibit the export of black lead in any other form than that of leadpencils goes to prove of what importance these mines and the manufacture of leadpencils in connexion with them was to England. In spite of the fact however that the mines only remained open for six weeks in the year and that no blacklead might be exported from them, the working of the mines, continued as it was for upwards of a century, at last began to have the effect of diminishing the yield, until at last nothing was to be obtained from them but an inferior and impure material no longer adapted as before for the manufacture of pencils.
In order to protect themselves from the consequences of a failure of the Cumberland blacklead mines, the English strenuously sought in every direction for new blacklead deposits, but down to the present day without the desired success. There remained therefore nothing but to look about for some means whereby the impure refuse still obtainable could be purified.
The process invented for this purpose consisted of first grinding the blacklead to powder as soon as it came out of the mine, then purifying it as much as possible from foreign substances by chemical means and finally compressing it by means of a press in such a manner that the mass could be just as easily cut as the pure Cumberland blacklead used to be. However notwithstanding all the appliances of art and science were brought to bear upon the subject and spite of every exertion to render this composition perfect, the English have not hitherto succeeded in producing any material capable of replacing the natural blacklead as obtained from the Cumberland mines.
These circumstances operated as an inducement to search for a substitute, which would admit of a greater economy in the use of blacklead. Experiments were made in England with this view and various substances such as glue, isinglass, tragacanth, gum &c. were tried for the purpose of cementing and consolidating the earthy blacklead into a firm mass. But none of these means succeeded. Subsequently it was attempted to improve the blacklead by melting it with minerals, compounding it with 30 or 40 per cent of sulphur. But this made the blacklead too brittle and the pencils made by this process would hardly mark at all. At last mixing with antimony was tried, which certainly yielded a composition in outward appearance very similar to the pure blacklead, but which proved to be but an unsatisfactory writingmaterial.
True, various degrees of hardness and different sorts of pencils were thus obtained but these were by no means proportional to the various modes of use. The manipulation of the brittle material demanded deep study, and conscientious laborers in order to give the pencil the requisite perfection.
It is not to be denied that from the very first German industry found itself in a more disadvantageous position. France and England had already become intrinsically industrious countries. They possessed immense facilities for foreign trade, the greatest internal freedom of motion for the industrial element, a legislature which took cognizance of all the requirements of industry, in short both countries were, in comparison with Germany, favored by certain circumstances which are indispensably necessary to render industry flourishing and which were then already fulfilled, whereas in Germany political division and animosity and the pressure of the guilds operated most perniciously upon industrial enterprise.
For these reasons industry could only develope itself in Germany later and then but slowly. The transition from the old to the new state of things appeared much more difficult, as many long since antiquated forms, which had become endeared to us by use, had first to be abolished.
The Saxon spirit, which, on the other side of the Channel had attained to such glorious results, had to sustain many a conflict in its native land, and many a praiseworthy attempt suffered shipwreck on the many obstacles, which the splitting up of the nation and the retention of unfeasable arrangements opposed to every great idea.
German science flourished at the same time to a very great extent, but in its exaltation it stood too high above ordinary life, not perceiving how to associate itself with it, so as to penetrate it with its enlightening and warmthgiving rays. Thus German industry remained far behind foreign enterprise and Germany beheld herself inundated with quantities of foreign manufactures, which she herself could have produced just as well, indeed it came to such a pass that foreigners relying upon their well organised commerce and the celebrity of their products even ventured to send German manufactures into the German market, stamped with a foreign trademark.
Leadpencil making however was then in its very lowest state, as in no case is a large establishment mentioned, and it may be assumed that this branch of trade was only just able to maintain a precarious position in comparison with the English manufacture.
The Bavarian government however soon devoted their attention to this branch of industry and sought to advance it. In the year 1766 a Count von Kronsfeld received a concession for the erection of a leadpencil manufactory at Jettenbach.
But the manufacture, wanting as it was in material, experience and custom, still remained so insignificant, that in "Beckmanns Technologie", which appeared in the year 1777 "Pencilmaking" merely received a quite superficial and incidental notice.
In the year 1816 the Bavarian government erected a Royal Leadpencil manufactory at Obernzell and introduced into this establishment the French process already mentioned of using clay to consolidate the blacklead.
When the new manufacture was in full play, the government transferred the whole establishment into private hands as was intended from the commencement, though the credit of having given the impetus to renewed activity on a large scale certainly belongs to it.
The establishment is now in the possession of the renowned Regensburg manufacturer. In addition to this the leadpencil manufacture had taken root in Vienna and an establishment was formed there, in which likewise the French process of mixing the blacklead with clay was adopted.
At that time adverse external circumstances pressed heavily upon the young manufactory, the whole possessions of its founder consisting only of a small house situated on the Rednitz and surrounded by a small garden. A judicial inventory dated 1786 still preserved in the family specifies faithfully the insignificant property possessed by them, showing a nett result of "Fifty nine florins".
N?rnberg and F?rth appear to have been the first to patronise the products of the manufactory. To these places, as we know, the pencils finished in the course of the week were carried on Saturdays in a basket; but the fact of their having been well paid for goes to prove that even then their excellence was acknowledged. The relations at that time existing between the producer and the consuming public were however but little regulated. The producer stood by himself alone, cut off from the world, which seemed to him too immensely large for him to dare to step out into it. The farsighted vision, searching in every direction to discover new wants and invent new improvements, were wanting to him, as was also the beneficial influence of external relations, with which he was never brought in contact.
Nor was the consumer any more favorably situated.
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