The Pen
A Human History
Will be published approx. on 10. September 2026
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-83726-318-9 (ISBN)
Description
'Glorious' EMMA THOMPSON
'Delightful' PHILIP PULLMAN
'Brilliant' JACQUELINE WILSON
From a reed cut on the banks of the Nile to the Sharpie, the pen has been with us for millennia. And all of humanity - from our faintest notions to our wildest inventions, our gossip and legends, our grandest proclamations and most intimate confessions - has flowed from a quill, ink chamber or ballpoint tip. The pen is the enduring link between a writer and anyone, anywhere, who can read their words. But the pen's own story is just as eventful as anything it has described.
In this expansive and engaging history, Simon Garfield traces the pen's remarkable journey across time and place. He examines the inks and instruments used by Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, meets innovators and obsessives, travels to the workshops of pen makers and into wartime trenches, discovers why fountain pens make such good gadgets for spies and assassins, and learns about the bestselling pen that wouldn't stop leaking.
Written with Garfield's trademark wit and drawing on his own research and interviews, The Pen examines how this everyday object has been the indelible marker of our shared culture - and why it continues to shape the way we communicate in the digital age.
'Delightful' PHILIP PULLMAN
'Brilliant' JACQUELINE WILSON
From a reed cut on the banks of the Nile to the Sharpie, the pen has been with us for millennia. And all of humanity - from our faintest notions to our wildest inventions, our gossip and legends, our grandest proclamations and most intimate confessions - has flowed from a quill, ink chamber or ballpoint tip. The pen is the enduring link between a writer and anyone, anywhere, who can read their words. But the pen's own story is just as eventful as anything it has described.
In this expansive and engaging history, Simon Garfield traces the pen's remarkable journey across time and place. He examines the inks and instruments used by Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, meets innovators and obsessives, travels to the workshops of pen makers and into wartime trenches, discovers why fountain pens make such good gadgets for spies and assassins, and learns about the bestselling pen that wouldn't stop leaking.
Written with Garfield's trademark wit and drawing on his own research and interviews, The Pen examines how this everyday object has been the indelible marker of our shared culture - and why it continues to shape the way we communicate in the digital age.
Reviews / Votes
A paean to the pen - glorious and golden . . . At last, a book celebrating my most precious possession. I am so glad to better understand its history, and I shall appreciate my pen even more every time I pick it up -- EMMA THOMPSON After the wheel, the pen must be the second most important invention in human history. Or perhaps the most important: we can use a pen to describe a wheel, but we can't use a wheel to describe a pen. The many forms of this mark-making tool, from the simplest to the most extravagantly inventive, are celebrated in Simon Garfield's delightful book full of profound knowledge and unbounded pleasure -- PHILIP PULLMAN You used to be able to tell a keen writer by the callus on their middle finger caused by regular use of their pen. They're rarely spotted nowadays, but anyone who has read Simon Garfield's brilliant treasure chest of fascinating stories will be rushing out to buy a pen - and we'll be flaunting our writer's lump with pride -- JACQUELINE WILSON The pen has been waiting a long time for its biographer, and in Simon Garfield it has found the perfect one. Erudite, entertaining and full of wonderful surprises, this is a book to savour - a warm, witty and engrossing celebration of one of humanity's greatest inventions. I adored every page -- SHAUN USHER As a user and low-level pen addict, I applaud this jaunty and entertaining journey around the most low-key important invention of modern times -- JEREMY DELLER Praise for Simon Garfield: 'Digressive, gossipy, thoughtful and thoroughly entertaining * * Sunday Times * * Garfield's knowledge is wide and his enthusiasm matchless * * The Times * * Thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating . . . Stuffed with fascinating material * * Observer * * With a magpie's appetite for glittering trivia, Garfield is as eager to amuse as to inform, and achieves both * * Telegraph * *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-83726-318-9 (9781837263189)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Simon Garfield was born in London in 1960. He is the author of an appealingly diverse and unpredictable canon of non-fiction, including the bestsellers Mauve, Just My Type and On The Map. He is a trustee of Mass Observation, and is the editor of several books of diaries from the archive, including Our Hidden Lives and A Notable Woman. His recent books include Timekeepers, In Miniature and All the Knowledge in the World. He lives in London and Cornwall.
simongarfield.com
simongarfield.com