Pelikan
Founded 1838 · Hannover, Germany · Carl Hornemann; the house takes its name from Günther Wagner
Pelikan is the oldest house on this list and the last to reach the pen: it spent ninety-one years making ink and colours before building its first. When it finally did, in 1929, it copied nobody: it fitted a piston with a differential gear that is still its technical signature nearly a century on, and the reason a collector can pick out a Pelikan without seeing the logo.
History
On 28 April 1838 the chemist Carl Hornemann offered his customers in Hannover oils, watercolours and coloured inks: that is where the house begins. In 1863 Günther Wagner joined as chemist and works manager, and ended up giving the company its name; in 1878 he registered the pelican from his own family crest as a trademark — one of the first registered trademarks in Germany. The pen came much later, and it came bought in: the Hungarian engineer Theodor Kovacs had developed a piston filling system with a differential screw and sold the patents to Günther Wagner in 1927; the house repatented them in its own name and in 1929 brought out its first fountain pen, the model 100. In 1982 the name Souverän came to designate the top range with the M400, and in 1997 the M1000 joined it as the largest of the family.
Iconic models
Souverän M800
The house pen: a striped body, a brass piston and an 18-carat gold nib. The one seen most often on collectors' desks.
Souverän M1000
The big one, from 1997, with a long and notably flexible nib; the one the house shows when it wants to show what it can do.
Souverän M400
The 1982 pen that launched the Souverän name; jacket-pocket size and the doorway into the range.
Model 100
The first, from 1929, and the one that introduced the differential-screw piston the house still uses.
4001 ink
The old ink, older than the pens: the house had been selling it for ninety years when it made its first fountain pen.
Worth knowing
The pelican on the cap lost chicks over the years: it began as a mother with four and since 2003 has been a mother with one. It lets you date a pen without opening it.
Pelikan at Reserva de Marcha
See all 290 in the catalogue →
4001 TP/6 Ink Cartridges for Fountain Pens, Brilliant Black, 0.8ml
Refills Edelstein Topaz Blue Bottled Ink, 339382
Edelstein Bottled Ink for Fountain Pens, Sapphire, 50ml, 1 Each (339390)
Edelstein Bottled Ink for Fountain Pens, Onyx, 50ml, 1 Each (339408)
M1000 Fountain Pen, F, Fine Point, Black, Souvelane
Premium M1000 Fountain Pen EF
M 1000 Fountain Pen Fine Line, Black
Souveran 805 Black/Blue ST Rollerball Pen, 933655