A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PENCIL

The first 'lead pencils', in today's sense, originated from England where graphite was discovered in the Cumbrian Mountains. At that time it was believed that 'lead ore' had been found. Hence the name lead pencil. It was only at the end of the 18th century that the chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele proved that the lead pencil contained graphite (carbon) and not lead.

The graphite from the Cumbrian mine in England was exploited to such an extent that the English government set the death penalty on its export.

The quality of the English graphite and the pencils made from it continually decreased. It was only through its monopoly position that England could also sell these inferior pencils at high prices. Binding agents like glue, rubber, tragacanth etc. were added in order to make the graphite last longer. 

The lead pencil first appeared in Germany in 1644 in a notepad belonging to an Artillery Officer. Caspar Faber started up his own pencil manufacturing business in Stein near Nuremberg in 1761.

Decisive for the flourishing of the lead pencil industry in Germany was the, at that time revolutionary, contribution of Lothar von Faber during the 19th century. It was through Lothar von Faber, later appointed Imperial Counsellor, that the Nuremberg area developed into the centre of the German lead pencil production.