Editing Pencil (section)

==History==
[[File:Soviet made Iskusstvo pencils.jpg|thumb|Old Soviet colored pencils with box (circa 1959)]]

===Camel hair===
''Pencil'', from [[Old French]] ''pincel'', from late [[Latin]] {{lang|la|penicillus}} a "little tail" (see ''penis''; ''pincellus'')<ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary|edition=3|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|chapter=pencil, n|title-link=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> originally referred to an artist's fine brush of camel hair, also used for writing before modern lead or chalk pencils.<ref>{{cite book|title=Notes and Queries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA419|series=3|volume=12|year=1868|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=419|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117163455/https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA419|archive-date=17 January 2018}}</ref>

Though the [[archetypal]] pencil was an artist's brush, the [[stylus]], a thin metal stick used for scratching in [[papyrus]] or [[wax tablet]]s, was used extensively by the [[ancient Rome|Romans]]<ref>{{cite book|first1=Steven S.|last1=Zumdahl  |first2=Susan A.|last2=Zumdahl |name-list-style=amp |title=Chemistry|url=https://archive.org/details/chemistrythediti00zumd  |url-access=limited  |year=2008|publisher=Cengage Learning|location=Belmont, CA|isbn=978-0-547-12532-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/chemistrythediti00zumd/page/n371 343]|chapter=No lead pencils}}</ref> and for [[palm-leaf manuscript]]s.

===Graphite deposit discoveries===
As a technique for drawing, the closest predecessor to the pencil was [[silverpoint]] or leadpoint until, in 1565 (some sources say as early as 1500), a large deposit of [[graphite]] was discovered on the approach to [[Grey Knotts]] from the hamlet of [[Seathwaite, Allerdale|Seathwaite]] in [[Borrowdale|Borrowdale parish]], [[Cumbria, England|Cumbria]], England.<ref name="norgate">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/lgaz/lk00976.htm
 |title       = Old Cumbria Gazetteer, black lead mine, Seathwaite
 |year        = 2008
 |first1= Martin|last1=Norgate|first2=Jean|last2=Norgate|publisher=Geography Department|location=Portsmouth University
 |access-date  = 19 May 2008
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090107062352/http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/lgaz/lk00976.htm
 |archive-date = 7 January 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name="wainwright_western" >{{Cite book|title=A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Western Fells
  |first=Alfred|last=Wainwright
  |year=2005
  |publisher=Frances Lincoln |isbn=0-7112-2460-9
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~jaszczak/borrowdale.html
 |title       = Graphite from the Plumbago Mine, Borrowdale, England
 |publisher   = Department of Physics at Michigan Technological University
 |access-date  = 27 March 2008
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080314044343/http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~jaszczak/borrowdale.html
 |archive-date = 14 March 2008
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name="Petroski-1990">[[#Petroski, 1990|Petroski, 1990]], pp. 168, 358</ref> This particular deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into sticks. It remains the only large-scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/wad.htm
 |title       = Lakeland's Mining Heritage
 |publisher   = cumbria-industries.org.uk
 |access-date  = 27 March 2008
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080315083301/http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/wad.htm
 |archive-date = 15 March 2008
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> [[Chemistry]] was in its infancy and the substance was thought to be a form of [[lead]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} Consequently, it was called ''plumbago'' (Latin for "lead [[ore]]").<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.answers.com/topic/plumbago
 |title       = Definition of Plumbago
 |publisher   = Answers.com
 |access-date  = 21 April 2007
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070813202330/http://www.answers.com/topic/plumbago
 |archive-date = 13 August 2007
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/plumbago
  |title=Definition of Plumbago
  |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com
  |access-date=21 April 2007
}}</ref> Because the pencil core is still referred to as "lead", or "a lead", many people have the misconception that the graphite in the pencil is lead,<ref>''The big book of questions and answers'', Publications International LTD, (1989), p.189, {{ISBN|0-88176-670-4}}.</ref> and the black core of pencils is still referred to as ''lead'', even though it never contained the [[Chemical element|element]] lead.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Have pencils ever contained lead?|url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/have-pencils-ever-contained-lead/|access-date=2020-08-27|website=BBC Science Focus Magazine|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Ever wondered about the lead in pencils?|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/ever-wondered-about-the-lead-in-pencils/2014/11/26/f8b5869c-548a-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 26 November 2014|access-date = 5 October 2015|issn = 0190-8286|first = Howard J.|last = Bennett|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151106222853/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/ever-wondered-about-the-lead-in-pencils/2014/11/26/f8b5869c-548a-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html|archive-date = 6 November 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Pencil swallowing: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia|url = https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002817.htm|website = www.nlm.nih.gov|access-date = 5 October 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151006022505/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002817.htm|archive-date = 6 October 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = graphite pencils {{!}} The Weekend Historian|url = https://umeshmadan.wordpress.com/tag/graphite-pencils/|website = umeshmadan.wordpress.com|access-date = 5 October 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151007164114/https://umeshmadan.wordpress.com/tag/graphite-pencils/|archive-date = 7 October 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/metals/lead.html|title=Lead Facts - Uses, Properties, Element Pb, Plumbing, Pipes, Weights|website=www.sciencekids.co.nz|access-date=2016-10-29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030075725/http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/metals/lead.html|archive-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> The words for pencil in German (''Bleistift''), Irish (''peann luaidhe''), Arabic (قلم رصاص ''qalam raṣāṣ''), and some other languages literally mean ''lead pen''.

The value of graphite would soon be realised to be enormous, mainly because it could be used to line the moulds for [[Round shot|cannonballs]]; the [[mining|mines]] were taken over by [[the Crown]] and were guarded. When sufficient stores of graphite had been accumulated, the mines were flooded to prevent theft until more was required.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The usefulness of graphite for pencils was discovered as well, but initially graphite for pencils had to be smuggled out of England. Because graphite is soft, it requires some form of [[encasement]]. Graphite sticks were initially wrapped in string or [[Leather|sheepskin]] for stability. England would enjoy a monopoly on the production of pencils until a method of reconstituting the graphite powder was found in 1662 in Germany. However, the distinctively square English pencils continued to be made with sticks cut from natural graphite into the 1860s. The town of [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]], near the original findings of block graphite, still manufactures pencils, the factory also being the location of the [[Derwent Pencil Museum]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/
 |title       = Keswick Pencil Museum
 |publisher   = Pencilmuseum.co.uk
 |access-date  = 23 July 2009
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090803153941/http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/
 |archive-date = 3 August 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> The meaning of "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pencil&allowed_in_frame=0 |title= pencil |first=Douglas|last=Harper |date= 27 June 2012 |dictionary= Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date= 27 June 2012 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120823161324/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pencil&allowed_in_frame=0 |archive-date= 23 August 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

===Wood encasement===
[[File:Palomino Blackwing 602 pencils.jpg|thumb|[[Blackwing 602|Palomino Blackwing 602]] pencils]]
Around 1560,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rocketcityspacepioneers.com/space/who-invented-the-pencil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022205245/http://www.rocketcityspacepioneers.com/space/who-invented-the-pencil |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-10-22 |title=Who invented the pencil? |publisher=[[Rocket City Space Pioneers]] }}</ref> an Italian couple named Simonio and Lyndiana Bernacotti made what are likely the first blueprints for the modern, wood-encased [[carpentry pencil]]. Their version was a flat, oval, more compact type of pencil. Their concept involved the hollowing out of a stick of [[juniper]] wood. Shortly thereafter, a superior technique was discovered: two wooden halves were carved, a graphite stick inserted, and the halves then glued together—essentially the same method in use to this day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/index.php?era=1500 |title=Timeline Outline ViewEra: 1500 - 1550 |publisher=Historyofscience.com |access-date=18 August 2012 |archive-date=31 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231171848/http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/index.php?era=1500 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Graphite powder and clay===
The first attempt to manufacture graphite sticks from powdered graphite was in [[Nuremberg]], Germany, in 1662. It used a mixture of graphite, [[sulphur]], and [[antimony]].<ref>{{cite web|title = Pencil|url = http://www.fact-index.com/p/pe/pencil.html|website = www.fact-index.com|access-date = 23 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120524123804/http://www.fact-index.com/p/pe/pencil.html|archive-date = 24 May 2012|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Pencils|url = https://borrowdalepoints.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/pencils/|website = Borrowdale Points|access-date = 23 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151123161832/https://borrowdalepoints.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/pencils/|archive-date = 23 November 2015|df = dmy-all|date = 10 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Gyaat:The weapon we use from adolescence|url = http://www.gyaat.com/post_view.php?id=16|website = www.gyaat.com|access-date = 23 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151123145543/http://www.gyaat.com/post_view.php?id=16|archive-date = 23 November 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref>

English and German pencils were not available to the French during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]; France, under naval blockade imposed by Great Britain, was unable to import the pure graphite sticks from the British Grey Knotts mines – the only known source in the world. France was also unable to import the inferior German graphite pencil substitute. It took the efforts of an officer in [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]]'s army to change this. In 1795, [[Nicolas-Jacques Conté]] discovered a method of mixing powdered graphite with [[clay]] and forming the mixture into rods that were then fired in a [[kiln]]. By varying the ratio of graphite to clay, the hardness of the graphite rod could also be varied. This method of manufacture, which had been earlier discovered by the Austrian [[Joseph Hardtmuth]], the founder of the [[Koh-I-Noor (company)|Koh-I-Noor]] in 1790, remains in use. In 1802, the production of graphite leads from graphite and clay was patented by the [[Koh-I-Noor (company)|Koh-I-Noor]] company in Vienna.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.koh-i-noor.cz/en/history
 |title       = History of Koh-i-noor Hardmuth company
 |publisher   = Koh-i-noor Hardmuth company
 |access-date  = 11 September 2015
 |url-status   = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150910213838/http://www.koh-i-noor.cz/en/history
 |archive-date = 10 September 2015
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>

In England, pencils continued to be made from whole sawn graphite. [[Henry Bessemer]]'s first successful invention (1838) was a method of compressing graphite powder into solid graphite thus allowing the waste from sawing to be reused.<ref>Bessemer, Henry (1905) [https://archive.org/details/sirhenrybessemer00bessuoft ''Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S: An Autobiography''], London, Offices of "Engineering," Chapter 3.</ref>

===United States===
[[File:Pencil, perhaps made by Henry David Thoreau - Concord Museum - Concord, MA - DSC05641.JPG|thumb|right|Pencil, perhaps made by Henry David Thoreau, in the [[Concord Museum]]]]
[[File:Pencil manufacture.svg|thumb|Pencil manufacturing. The top sequence shows the old method that required pieces of graphite to be cut to size; the lower sequence is the new, current method using rods of graphite and clay.]]
American colonists imported pencils from Europe until after the [[American Revolution]]. [[Benjamin Franklin]] advertised pencils for sale in ''[[The Pennsylvania Gazette]]'' in 1729, and [[George Washington]] used a {{convert|3|in|cm|adj=on|round=0.5|spell=in}} pencil when he surveyed the [[Ohio Country]] in 1762.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pencils.com/famous-pencil-users/|title=Famous Pencil Users - Pencils.com|language=en-US|access-date=2016-09-08|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009151127/http://pencils.com/famous-pencil-users/|archive-date=9 October 2016}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2017}} [[William Munroe (pencil maker)|William Munroe]], a cabinetmaker in [[Concord, Massachusetts|Concord]], Massachusetts, made the first American [[wood]] pencils in 1812. This was not the only pencil-making occurring in Concord. According to [[Henry Petroski]], [[transcendentalist]] philosopher [[Henry David Thoreau]] discovered how to make a good pencil out of inferior graphite using clay as the [[Binder (material)|binder]]; this invention was prompted by his father's pencil factory in Concord, which employed graphite found in [[New Hampshire]] in 1821 by Charles Dunbar.<ref name="Petroski-1990" />

Munroe's method of making pencils was painstakingly slow, and in the neighbouring town of [[Acton, Massachusetts|Acton]], a pencil mill owner named Ebenezer Wood set out to automate the process at his own [[Nashoba Brook Pencil Factory Site|pencil mill located at Nashoba Brook]]. He used the first circular saw in pencil production. He constructed the first of the hexagon- and octagon-shaped wooden casings. Ebenezer did not patent his invention and shared his techniques with anyone. One of those was [[Eberhard Faber]], which built a [[Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory|factory in New York]] and became the leader in pencil production.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = https://trails.actonma.gov/pencil-factory/
 |title       = Acton Conservation Lands, Pencil Factory
 |date = 16 December 2015
 |publisher   = Actontrails.org
 |access-date  = 27 Feb 2024
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20240227105622/https://trails.actonma.gov/pencil-factory/
 |archive-date = 27 Feb 2024
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

[[Joseph Dixon (inventor)|Joseph Dixon]], an inventor and entrepreneur involved with the [[Tantiusques]] graphite mine in [[Sturbridge, Massachusetts|Sturbridge]], Massachusetts, developed a means to [[mass production|mass-produce]] pencils. By 1870, The [[Joseph Dixon Crucible Company]] was the world's largest dealer and consumer of graphite and later became the contemporary [[Dixon Ticonderoga]] pencil and art supplies company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dixonusa.com/index.cfm/fuseaction=history.dixon |title=Joseph Dixon 1799–1869 |publisher=Dixon Ticonderoga Company |access-date=23 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013191609/http://dixonusa.com/index.cfm/fuseaction%3Dhistory.dixon |archive-date=13 October 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.thetrustees.org/pages/368_tantiusques.cfm
 |title       = Tantiusques Graphite Mine
 |publisher   = Thetrustees.org
 |access-date  = 23 July 2009
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090418023739/http://www.thetrustees.org/pages/368_tantiusques.cfm
 |archive-date = 18 April 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

By the end of the nineteenth century, over 240,000 pencils were used each day in the US.  The favoured timber for pencils was [[Juniperus virginiana|Red Cedar]] as it was [[aroma]]tic and did not splinter when sharpened.  In the early twentieth century supplies of Red Cedar were dwindling so that pencil manufacturers were forced to recycle the wood from cedar fences and barns to maintain supply.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

One effect of this was that "during World War II rotary pencil sharpeners were outlawed in Britain because they wasted so much scarce lead and wood, and pencils had to be sharpened in the more conservative manner – with knives."<ref name=Petroski>{{cite book|title=The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance|first=Henry |last=Petroski|year=2010|location=New York|publisher=Random House LLC|isbn=978-0-307-77243-5}}</ref>

It was soon discovered that [[Calocedrus|incense cedar]], when dyed and perfumed to resemble Red Cedar, was a suitable alternative. Most pencils today are made from this timber, which is grown in managed forests. Over 14&nbsp;billion pencils are manufactured worldwide annually.<ref name="Readers Digest, pencil users">{{cite web|work=The Point of it All – History of the Pencil |first=Michael|last=Franco |title=Famous Pencil Pushers |url=http://www.readersdigest.com.au/content/printContent.do?contentId=109024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617220924/http://www.readersdigest.com.au/content/printContent.do?contentId=109024 |archive-date=17 June 2009 }}</ref> Less popular alternatives to cedar include [[basswood]] and [[alder]].<ref name=Petroski/>

In Southeast Asia, the wood [[Dyera costulata|Jelutong]] may be used to create pencils (though the use of this rainforest species is controversial).<ref>{{cite news|title=In World Of Politically Right, Pencils Can Be Wrong Stuff|date=1 September 1993|first=Janita|last=Poe|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/09/01/in-world-of-politically-right-pencils-can-be-wrong-stuff/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222013536/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-09-01/news/9309010106_1_jelutong-pencils-incense-cedar-institute|archive-date=22 February 2014}}</ref> Environmentalists prefer the use of [[Alstonia scholaris|Pulai]] – another wood native to the region in pencil manufacturing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Forest Management Public Summary for: PT Xylo Indah Pratama |url=http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/forestry/documents/pt-xylo.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229141343/http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/forestry/documents/pt-xylo.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 December 2009 |date=15 March 2000 |publisher=Rainforest Alliance }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fantasiapencil.com/aboutus.html|title=Fantasia – The Quality Pencil Company – About Us|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825111536/http://fantasiapencil.com/aboutus.html|archive-date=25 August 2013}}</ref>

===Eraser attachment===
[[File:LipmanPencilEraserPatent.jpg|thumb|Attached eraser on the left; Pencil lead on the right]]
On 30 March 1858, [[Hymen Lipman]] received the first [[patent]] for attaching an [[eraser]] to the end of a pencil.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=19783
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502041232/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=19783
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-date=2 May 2017
 |date=30 March 1858
 |title=US Patent 19783 Combination of Lead-Pencil and Eraser
 |first=L.|last=Lipman
 |publisher=Patft.uspto.gov
 |access-date=23 July 2009
}}</ref> In 1862, Lipman sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000, who went on to sue pencil manufacturer [[Faber-Castell]] for [[Patent infringement|infringement]].<ref>[[#Petroski 1990|Petroski 1990]], p. 171</ref> In ''Reckendorfer v. Faber'' (1875), the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] ruled against Reckendorfer, declaring the patent invalid.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://supreme.justia.com/us/92/347/case.html
 |title       = Reckendorfer v. Faber 92 U.S. 347 (1875)
 |publisher   = Supreme.justia.com
 |access-date  = 23 July 2009
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090608084015/http://supreme.justia.com/us/92/347/case.html
 |archive-date = 8 June 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

===Extenders===
{{Main|Pencil extender}}

Historian Henry Petroski notes that while ever more efficient means of mass production of pencils has driven the replacement cost of a pencil down, before this people would continue to use even the stub of a pencil. For those who did not feel comfortable using a stub, pencil extenders were sold. These devices function something like a ''porte-crayon''...the pencil stub can be inserted into the end of a shaft...Extenders were especially common among engineers and draftsmen, whose favorite pencils were priced dearly. The use of an extender also has the advantage that the pencil does not appreciably change its heft as it wears down.<ref name=Petroski/> Artists use extenders to maximize the use of their [[colored pencil]]s.