The Glory That Is Graphite: Pencils Deserve Some Respect

Credit: Mark Wagoner

Pens get all the good ink. Witness some copy from a recent full-page newspaper advertisement for an investment house: "This pen wields power. It signs contracts authorizing loans to enterprising individuals and ambitious companies. It confirms investment plans . . . " yadda yadda yadda.The pen symbolizes permanence and importance. The pen writes history, which is why, when U.S. presidents sign legislation, the several pens used are handed out as prized souvenirs.

But pity the poor pencil. This noble invention, free of blots, humbly willing to have its words erased and rewritten, does its excellent work in the shadow of disdain. "Pencil me in," says the person who may not keep an appointment. Doomed to stand for all that is temporary and undependable, pencils get no respect. Did anyone ever say, "The pencil is mightier than the sword"? Did John Hancock sign his John Hancock with a nervously chewed yellow stump sharpened with a knife?

But pencils deserve a higher place on the doodling order. The very fact that they aren't so permanent should make them lovable in our evanescent age. Power to the pencil.

To make a stylish statement about having the write stuff, try one of these four variations on the theme that do the job with penless panache. We admit that three figures may seem steep, but often better prices are available at Web sites like www.joon.com [1], www.bittner.com [2], and penoutlet.com [3].

The Goods

Montegrappa Symphony
Charcoal, parchment, or marbleized blue, red, or yellow, all acetate with sterling silver/0.7 mm lead/$460

Faber-Castell E-Motion
Black or brown pearwood, or light maplewood/1.4 mm lead/$40

Monteverde Grafica
Various colors/5.6 mm lead for drawing, shading, et cetera/$36

Delta Dolcevita
Two-tone acetate with silver scroll decoration/0.7 mm lead/$172

Owen Edwards is a contributing editor for Edutopia and Smithsonian magazines.