The origins of today's pencil goes back to 1565, when a grey-black glistending substance was found in Borrowdale, in the Cumberland hills of England. It was said to be a 'lead' coloured material, greasy to touch an quick to stain the fingers. This substance became known as black-lead, an was found to be more convenient for a writing an drawing than pen and ink, as it's marks could be easily rubbed out.
In the late 18th century, Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele identified the substance as a crystallised form of carbon, like diamond, however structurally very different. He named it Graphite, from the Greek word for writing, 'Graphein'. In 1761 cabinetmaker Kaspar Faber settled in Stein, near Nurenburg, in Germany to make his first simple pencils. Graphite was cut into narrow sticks and glued between two pieces of wood which were cut and planed smooth. The family dynasty of pencil makers had begun.
The oldest pencil: found during renovation work.
In 1794 the Graphite-Clay process was invented. Powdered graphite was mixed with clay, shaped into thin rods (or leads) then fired in a Kiln at high temperature. The greater the graphite content the softer and darker the lead. The greater the clay content the harder and ligther the 'lead'.
+ Graphite For a darker and softer writing - Example 6B
+ Clay: For a lighter and harder writing - Example 6H
