The Writing Equipment Society was established in 1980 by several patrons of a London pen store known as ‘His Nibs’. The Drury Lane shop was owned by the late Phillip Poole who regularly produced an informal newsletter for his customers and this newsletter was the forerunner of the now world renowned WES Journal. Phillip was the Society’s inaugural Chairman and held the post for 10 years during which time the Society became established as the leading organisation of its kind worldwide. A project commenced to establish a library that would record the history of writing equipment and this library now boasts the largest collection of writing equipment related articles in the world, and is still growing!
The Society is devoted to the conservation and study of writing instruments and accessories. Our members' interests cover pens of all types and materials, pencils, nibs, inkwells, stamp boxes, quill cutters, scriveners' knives, seals, writing slopes, blotters, letter scales, paper knives and rulers to mention but a few.
The Society has two broad objectives. First, although many members are interested in modern equipment, our primary concern is to encourage the study of handwriting equipment and related artefacts of earlier times, and of associated ephemera; we wish to record the history of writing equipment and encourage the conservation of both utilitarian and fine items. Second, we aim to provide opportunities for collectors, whether they spend pence or pounds, to meet and correspond in an informal way and to provide a forum for the expression of members views and questions about writing related equipment.
Approaching 500 writing equipment enthusiasts from no fewer than 35 countries around the world currently enjoy the wide range of benefits the Society provides members with and these benefits include:
A copy of the constitution of the Writing Equipment Society can be viewed here.
