Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black Returns To North America

August 10, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: 4001, Blue-Black, Ink, Iron Gall, Pelikan 30 Comments

Pelikan has been producing various inks suited to a multitude of purposes for well over a century. The 4001 line, originally crafted and marketed as Günther Wagner’s premium writing ink, is the only one of those historic formulas to continue production into the 21st century. Widely regarded as one of Pelikan’s best inks within that line, 4001 Blue-Black has not been available in the United States since around 2011, a topic that I addressed back in 2016. Off of the US market for over a decade now, those who’ve wanted to use this ink have had to order it from overseas vendors or do without. Pelikan actually has a whole line of permanent and semi-permanent inks which include Scribtol (best reserved for dip pens) and Fount India, a more fountain pen friendly formulation that requires meticulous pen hygiene. 4001 Blue-Black, while not as permanent as the other two formulations, skews even more fountain pen friendly while still providing some relative lightfastness. Its semi-permanent nature is accomplished by a small amount of iron gall in its formulation. Oak galls or gallnuts are tumors that occur on certain oak trees in response to insects. These oak galls serve as a food source for larvae but are also rich in tannic acid which makes them well suited for use in ink when combined with iron salts. Pelikan began using iron gall in its ink products circa 1892 thanks to the emerging dominance of the steel nib. In fact, the original formula for 4001 began as a class I iron gall writing ink that flowed blue from the pen and darkened to black so you might say that today’s Blue-Black speaks to the very heart of the line. It has been presumed that 4001 Blue-Black was formulated in such a manner as to not be in compliance with the United States Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), thereby barring its importation and distribution. According to a large advertisement in the August 2023 issue of PenWorld Magazine, Blue-Black is back! After a protracted absence, this ink will once again be available for purchase in North America.

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4001 And Günther Wagner’s Lost But Not Forgotten Pelikan Inks

April 19, 2019 By Joshua in Reference Tags: 2001, 3001, 4001, 5001, 6001, Iron Gall, Logwood, Pelikan Ink 20 Comments

The firm now known as Pelikan and it’s founder, the chemist Carl Hornemann, were chiefly involved in the manufacture and sale of various oil paints, watercolors, and colored inks with official operations beginning in the Spring of 1838. Long before Günther Wagner ever conceived of producing a fountain pen, the business had a prolific catalog of ink tailored to suit just about any purpose you could imagine. The broadest categories of usage included inks for copying, inks for writing, and colored inks. Günther Wagner purchased the business in 1871 and by 1886 the company was producing 49 different varieties of ink with a spectrum of properties ranging from indelible, to washable, and even to scented inks marketed towards women to name just a few. These inks were advertised under the Pelikan name which Günther Wagner had registered as a trademark in 1879. A comprehensive review of all the once available formulations would be quite the endeavor and is beyond the scope of this article. There are a few related product lines, however, that are worth taking a closer look at. Starting in the late 1890s in an effort to provide more clarity in their marketing, some of the most important “Pelikan Inks” would come to be trademarked with specific numbers, a convention which was meant to allow for easy recall. This was necessary since the company’s price lists from that decade took up 17 pages detailing the available ink varieties alone. These numbered lines included Pelikan Ink 2001, 3001, 4001, 5001, and, later on, 6001. The aforementioned formulations came about during the early days of fountain pens, before widespread adoption, and were produced concurrently with many other product lines. Only the 4001 name, historically one of Pelikan’s most popular products, continues on today albeit with a different chemical composition from the original. What properties did these inks of old display and how were they used? Read on to find out.

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The Story Behind Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

April 20, 2016 By Joshua in Reference Tags: 4001, Blue-Black, Ink, Iron Gall, Pelikan 56 Comments

Few of Pelikan’s inks have sparked as much confusion and controversy as 4001 Blue-Black, particularly amongst those of us in the United States where this formulation is currently no longer available. You may be unaware that Pelikan actually has a line of “document proof” inks which covers a spectrum ranging from strong permanence to a more moderate light resistance. Scribtol is their most permanent offering but it is not suitable for fountain pens owing to the composition of the ink (i.e. carbon pigment) which can and will harm fountain pen feeds. This formulation should be reserved for dip pens only. Once you’ve moved past Scribtol, you arrive at Fount India. Offered as somewhat of a compromise, Fount India also contains carbon pigment though in a lower concentration than Scribtol. You get the same properties of permanence but in a formulation that is able to be used, all-be-it with caution, in a fountain pen. If you employ Fount India in your piston filling fountain pen, you need to take care that the ink never dries out which requires diligent pen maintenance. If the higher maintenance that is required with Fount India has you a little put off, then 4001 Blue-Black may be right up your alley.

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