In October, 1876, Mr. Henry Mitchell writes to Aris's Gazette, and says:
“You review, in your impression of the 23d inst., a work entitled 'British Manufacturing Industries—the Birmingham Trades,' in which the history of steel pens forms a prominent chapter. I beg to point out that my late father's name—John Mitchell—is certainly mentioned in a list of the manufacturers of the article, and, to my great surprise, simply so. In a part of the work the author states that 'The early history of steel pens is involved in obscurity.' My object in writing to you is to remove that obscurity, as I am satisfied you will be equally desirous of giving honor to whom honor is due. I claim that honor for my late father—John Mitchell—who was the first to introduce the making of steel pens by means of tools, which were purely his own invention, and I will leave it to an enlightened public to judge if it is not one of the greatest benefits conferred on any civilized community. Whatever others may have done does not remove the fact that the inventor I have named was my father; and it is only due to him that posterity should know who originated the means whereby millions of human beings of the present time, and generations yet unborn are, and will be, enabled to communicate their thoughts to each other with a facility they otherwise would not have had. For, unless the steel pen had been manufactured by tools and machinery, that useful article would virtually be at a prohibitory price. The date of the invention I believe to be 1822 or thereabouts.”
This is very emphatic; but how far may it be taken as an unprejudiced statement of facts? Well, it has never been contradicted; and Gillott never made a claim on his own behalf, as having made pens before Mitchell. Mason gave the year 1828 as the date when he commenced making pens, so that the evidence is in favor of Mitchell.
We have heard this statement of Henry Mitchell confirmed by a man who worked for Mitchell, as a boy, and who remembered pens being made for Sheldon by Mitchell. It is probable at this early period the pens were made for a few dealers, and the general public was unacquainted with the names of the manufacturers. This circumstance has no doubt contributed to involve in obscurity the early operations of Mitchell and Gillott. In a notice in Lardner's Cyclopoedia (written by Mr. John Holland, of Sheffield), published in 1833, the names of three penmakers only are given—Perry, Heeley, and Skinner. From this it might be supposed that there were no other penmakers at this date; but Gillott had taken out a patent in 1831, and the names of both Mitchell and Gillott appeared as penmakers in Wrightson's Birmingham Directory for 1830. It cannot be supposed that Mr. Holland wilfully omitted to mention the names of Mitchell and Gillott, for this writer was an impartial and painstaking collector of facts, but it is probable the notice was written some time before it was published; and, like many little masters, Mitchell and Gillot were only known as penmakers to the wholesale dealers in Birmingham, upon whom they depended for orders, consequently Mr. Holland would be ignorant of their existence.
In speaking of the demand for steel pens, the writer in Lardner's says: “The rage originated chiefly, if not altogether, in the successful speculations of Mr. James Perry, of London, whose pens, however short their merits may fall of the praise of the inventor, are certainly superior to most others composed of a like material. Perry began to make steel pens, in Manchester, in 1819, and in London in 1824.” The press and tools with which these pens were made are still in the possession of Perry and Co., at their warehouse in the Holburn Viaduct. This fact tends to confirm the statement that Mr. James Perry was one of the earliest experimenters in the manufacture of the article. Levesley says he bought one of Perry's pens, which he saw in a shop window in Sheffield, in 1825, and he took it to his workshop and improved upon it. This is somewhat similar to the account given by Mason of his first experiment in pen making. Mason saw a pen of Perry's in the window of a bookseller named Peart, in Bull Street, Birmingham, in 1828, which he purchased and took home. Finding he could produce a better article, which could be sold at a cheaper rate, he made some and sent them to Mr. James Perry, in, London, and that gentleman shortly after waited upon Josiah Mason, at his place of business in Lancaster Street, and the interview resulted in Mason beginning to make pens for Perry. It will be remembered that the writer in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph stated that the earliest experimenter in form and material was Perry.
Leaving the honor of having originated the application of labor-saving machinery for the manufacture of steel pens to Mitchell, it would appear that the merit of having popularized the article is due to Perry. In 1830, Mr. James Perry issued a circular containing a series of engravings of metallic pens, showing the improvements he had patented in their manufacture. In this circular it is stated: “Till about six months ago the public had heard little of metallic pens. At present, it would seem that comparatively few of any other kind are in the hands of any class of the community. This sudden transition may clearly be traced to the announcement of the Patent Perryian Pens in various periodicals, about six months ago, and to the general demand which ensued for that pen in every part of the empire,”
Although this might be regarded as an ex-parte statement, it is confirmed by independent testimony that Perry popularized the article. The Saturday Magazine, 1838, says:
“About twelve years ago (1825), the celebrated Perryian pens first appeared. Mr. Perry may be regarded in the light of a great improver; many of his pens are ingenious and original in construction. He arranges his pens into genera and species. Mr. Perry first overcame the rigidity complained of in steel pens by introducing apertures between the shoulder and point of the pen, thus transferring the elasticity of the pen to a position below instead of above the shoulder. This was the subject of his patent in 1830.”
Mr. Sam: Timmins, in 1866, writes:
“No skill in manufacture, however, could conquer the prejudice against any metallic pen, and to Mr. James Perry the world is much indebted for persevering advocacy of the steel pen, and for one of the most important improvements in its form. Mr. Perry, with his characteristic energy, almost forced the steel pen into use, and was supplied with pens of a first-class quality by Mr. Josiah Mason, of this town.”