In the mid 1500?s, a heavy windstorm tore through the Lake District in England toppling trees and ravaging forests. Near the village of Borrowdale, close to Keswick, a copse of venerable oaks blew over to expose a layer of soft black mineral. Delighted shepherds, believing they had discovered a readily accessible seam of coal, were disappointed when they could not get the stuff to burn.They named it ?plumbago? or ?imitation lead,? because it proved useful for marking sheep, although it made a terrible mess of the hands.

Flemish traders, travelling to the Lake District to purchase wool, encountered the new substance and recognized its potential as an art material. It is believed that they took the mineral to Italy, (some reports specify that it was to Michelangelo?s workshop), where Italian artists designed a wooden case to hold the soft plumbago. The British quickly adopted this rustic technology, a cottage industry developed in the town of Keswick, and the ?Crayon d?Angleterre? was invented.

As you may have guessed, plumbago is not a back disease. Over two hundred years after the windstorm, a Swedish chemist, K. W. Scheele, renamed the mineral ?graphite? in honour of its calligraphic usefulness. However, during the reign of Elizabeth I, when it was first discovered, plumbago was used primarily by the munitions industry, since it proved an ideal substance with which to make moulds for musket and cannonballs. The outcroppings became the property of the Crown, and armed soldiers were sent to guard them. The uniqueness of the material allowed for inflationary prices; at one point, it was selling for 1300 pounds sterling a ton.

How do we know this? Through oral history, to be sure, but more specifically, thanks to a book published in Zurich in 1565 by a Swiss naturalist, Konrad Gesner. In his Treatise on Fossils, Gesner not only refers to the Borrowdale outcropping, but also includes a drawing of the writing implement that was putting Keswick on the map. It is from this early diagram, that the Gesner pencil has been recreated.

When Cleo-Scribent made the pencil, they sought ?to maintain the historical character of the utensil, while at the same time designing a top quality writing instrument able to cater to the needs of professional users.? Employing artisans and craftspeople, and insisting on traditional methods and materials wherever possible, Cleo-Scribent have lovingly recreated the original Gesner pencil, complete with a leather pouch or wooden case, additional leads, (the Borrowdale seam was closed permanently in the nineteenth century, so artist lead replaces the original soft graphite) sandpaper, a slate, and an eraser. Many scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote his plays with Keswick pencils; Michelangelo?s apprentices reportedly sketched with them, and Konrad Gesner thought enough of them to include a drawing of one in his natural science treatise. What greater endorsement do we need for these pencils that have been brought in especially for the holiday season? Hurry in as quantities are limited, and these collector sets will fly into gift boxes fast!

Contributed by Aubin van Berckel
aubin@opusframing.com