Marginalia (1)

Well... I knew for many years now that H.P.Lovecraft likes his Waterman pens. I only use pens in primary school almost thirty years ago. But a gift from three years ago from one of my friends rejuvenated my interest in that form of writing. So... My wife takes a note and when she does that the results are surprising. Lately, I've received a parcel with a Waterman pen... Try it and was surprised how good and pleasant writing is with that pen. Now I know why Lovecraft wrote these words...

“You’ll recall that I obtained a pen a piece for SH (Sonia) & myself last October at a price of $1.28 … we found the sale still on [&] the salesman still willing to make exchanges. …to obtain real satisfaction one must invest in a real Waterman … I did not escape from the emporium till a $6.25 Waterman reposed in my pocket — a modern self-filler corresponding to the ancient $6.00 type which I bought in 1906 & lost seventeen years later amidst the sands of Marblehead Neck in the summer of 1923 … the feed is certainly a relief after sundry makeshifts — tho’ I think I’ll change this especial model tomorrow for one with a slightly coarser point — one less likely to scratch on rough paper. It is certainly good to be back among the Watermans again …” — Lovecraft to Lillian Clark on 30th January 1926.

[The “sundry makeshifts” apparently included a self-filling Conklin, loaned from Moe after Lovecraft’s pen was lost “amid the sands of Marblehead”].