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1560
History
Around 1560' 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. -
1564
The Invention Of The Pencil
The lead pencil was invented in 1564 when a huge graphite (black carbon) mine was discovered in Borrowdale, Cumbria, England. The pure graphite was sawn into sheets and then cut into square rods. The graphite rods were inserted into hand-carved wooden holders, forming pencils. -
1564
How Did The Pencil Get It's Name?
Pencil has a solid pigment core, usually in a protective casing made of wood, plastic or paper. Its name comes from French “pincel” (meaning “small paintbrush”), which in turn comes from Latin “penicillus” which means a "little tail" -
Upgrade
An important year at the evolvment of the pencil, was 1802. In that year the company Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth patented the first pencil lead made from a combination of kaolin and graphite. This method determines the pencil's HB levels (and till F and H and so on), as we know them today. -
Eraser Attached
On 30 March 1858, Hymen Lipman received the first patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil. In 1862, Lipman sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000, who went on to sue pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell for infringement. In 1875, the Supreme Court of the US ruled against Reckendorfer declaring the patent invalid. -
Colored Pencils
Although colored pencils had been used for “checking and marking” for decades prior, it was not until the early 20th century that artist-quality colored pencils were produced. Manufacturers that began producing artist-grade colored pencils included Faber-Castell in 1908 (the Polychromos range was initially 60 colors) and Caran d’Ache in 1924, followed by Berol Prismacolor in 1938. -
Interesting Fact
Got time to kill? The average pencil holds enough graphite to draw a line about 35 miles long or to write roughly 45,000 words. History does not record anyone testing this statistic. -
Pencils Today
Today, most wooden pencils are mass produced from large blocks of cedar cut into slats. A machine cuts eight grooves, half as deep as the graphite-clay rod is thick, into the slats, and then places rods in each groove. Once the rods are in place, a second grooved slat is glued on top of the first.
