his nibs (2)

N ow where was I up to before I had to dash across the Pacific? Oh yes, the nibs. When you use these in your regular work you need to be buying them by the gross, so that your stash looks something like this:


Whenever you get together with a colleague in the trade you say 'hey I found that this one suits my puposes, you should give it a try', and you shove a handful in the other guy's mitt. In this way I came by the crowquill style of nib via Dave Sim. This style has the cylinder in emulation of the bird feather from which it derives, as opposed to the flat reed in which the more flexible type of nib originates. This style offered me a tighter control of the linework, but with less thick-and-thin dynamics, which you can see from the selected examples below. In fact The use of this type (in conjunction with my other favourites) starts coming in around From Hell chapter 7. I had spent a week with Sim early in 1994 after which I added to my armoury the Hunt 102 crowquill, pictured in the red box.
On occasion I come across a box of a rare nib. The large Brandauer nibs above came as a Christmas present many years ago and I occasionally find a use for them. I think these are very old. (Some other gorgeous Brandauer antiques.)
The quaint abel on the underside of the box reads:
Brandauer: CAUTION: Whereas, with a view of securing the public from imposition, and of protecting our own manufacture, we have caused our Trade mark, to wit, 'an Archer in a kneeling position, with bow and arrow, to be registered according to law...etc.
A history of the Birmingham pen trade including Branfdauer and Gillott: The Brandauers remained involved with the business until the First World War, when the factory was confiscated by the authorities on the grounds that the Brandauers were Austrian, and was eventually released to the Petit family.
Examples using mainly the crowquill:

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Changing the subject, I'm leading up to a video clip which made me laugh, but we must get there via unsavoury matters, so bear with me a minute. While I was away they nabbed somebody for groping, but surely this isn't the groper I mentioned here before (which should not be taken to imply that I know anything about the matter):
Sex assaults linked to bikeway attacks?- July 31, 2007.
Man charged over sex assaults- August 1, 2007 .
hayley campbell sent a link to the unrelated incident in England:
Man sought over TV bottom pinch- BBC- Tuesday, 31 July 2007
A man who pinched a Channel 4 News presenter's bottom during a live broadcast is being sought by police. (Youtube)
Sue Turton was speaking to the camera from Oxford's flood-hit Osney Island when the man was seen on film walking past her. She said she found the incident "quite humiliating" but continued reporting. She does not wish to pursue the matter. Police said they still intended to impose an £80 fixed-penalty fine on the man under the Public Order Act.
Ms Turton said in a statement: "Many people found the incident in Oxford last week when a man pinched my bum live on Channel 4 News humorous.
I am not one who finds amusement in the puerile behaviour of annoying of ladies in public, but while at Youtube I came across this U.S. news reporter getting mad, which has nothing to do with bottoms, and had me in stitches because of the placing of the word 'violent'.