When I first started collecting fountain pens I owned two bottles of ink, a bottle of Quink blue and a Waterman black. Then the Snail List started up and I discovered that ink was a much more complex topic than I expected, every bit as complicated in fact as pen collecting itself, with individual colors reaching cult status following passionate postings on the message boards. I acquired PR Sherwood Green and Tanzanite, Omas Roma 2000 and Vespucci Red, Aurora Black and rOtring Ziegelrot; all from the recommendations of Pentracers. They were right, ink was a serious subject - you could even mix your own!

Michael Richter has been the Pentrace Ink guru from the beginning, reviewing every brand and color he could get his hands on and illustrating his findings with scans of the inks applied to paper. His series covered every color imaginable and he's still not finished - many people have used his articles to zero in on their own potential favorite.

As a logical next step, Michael compiled his first Ink Sampler in 2002, titled simply "Fountain Pen Ink Part I" This has since become a collectors first edition,( the good news is that he is planning to issue a second edition of the original).

Just this week I received my copy of Part II - number 02/20 in fact.

The cover of "Fountain Pen InkPart II"

The samplers are very well thought out and although Michael tells me he would like to change the binding and a few other issues, I think he got it right from the start.

The samplers consists of pages of light, white card, A5 size (roughly 6"x 81/4"), punched in the top left hand corner and bound with a braided cord. In the case of Part II, there are 79 different inks on 13 pages. The inks are arranged by brand, with the brand name printed at the top of the page and individual color names printed in two columns down the page. Under each color name, Michael has applied the relevant ink using a dip pen to produce a distinctive "squiggle" which gives a very clear indication of the properties of the ink in question. If there is any variation in the width of the line, it is due to the flow properties of the ink, as the same nib is used throughout - apart from the hassle of a thorough cleaning after an application of a particular color, using a single fountain pen for the job would have been impractical as not all inks suit all pens.

A sample page from the Part II sampler
Note: The ink colors are listed in English in my copy.

I suppose comparisons with Greg Clarks "Fountain Pen Inks - A Sampler" are inevitable. I use Greg's book also, but I have to admit a personal preference for Michael's layout. Greg arranges his inks by color, applying them with a brush rather than a nib, on letter sized blue-gray pages which are bound "report style" with a clear plastic cover. Michael's layout allows an overview of the range of colors available in a particular brand and if you need to compare say Aurora Black with S.T Dupont Black, it's a simple case of "fanning out" the relevant pages like a deck of cards, so that they are adjacent. Pantone printers reference cards and paint swatch cards are usually bound in one corner like this. Greg's book does have a lot more in-depth information about the inks, such as pH water resistance and fading ratings, in addition to various charts and articles etc., but I prefer to see the inks applied to a white surface with a nib - as Michael's are.

Here is a listing of the contents:

Fountain Pen Ink - Part 2 - First Edition 2003

Aurora:
Blau (Blue)
Schwarz (Black)

Caran d’Ache: Schwarz (Black)
Braun (Brown)
Blau (Blue)
Türkisgrün (Turquoise Green)

Cross:
Schwarz (Black)
Blauschwarz (Blue Black)
Blau (Blue)

S.T. Dupont:
Schwarz (Black)
Nachtblau (Night Blue)
Königsblau (Royal Blue)

Galerie Jansen: Gelb (Yellow)
Magenta (Magenta)
Orange (Orange)
Violett (Violet)
Rot (Red)
Indigoblau (Indigo Blue)
Feuerrot (Fire Red)
Blau (Blue)
Dunkelrot (Dark Red)
Braun (Brown)
Himmelblau (Sky Blue)
Dunkelbraun (Dark Brown)
Türkis (Turkquoise)
Schwarz (Black)
Grün (Green)
Dunkelgrün (Dark Green)

Omas:
Triratna Orange (Triratna Orange)
Blauschwarz (Blue Black)
Hong Kong Rot (Hong Kong Red)
Schwarz (Black)
A. Vespucci Rot (A. Vespucci Red)
Omas Grau (Omas’s Gray)
Violett (Violet)
Grün (Green)
Königsblau (Royal Blue)
Sepia (Sepia)
Roma 200 Blau (Roma 2000 Blue)

Parker Quink:
Permanent Schwarz (Permanent Black)
Permanent Türkis (Permanent Turquoise)
Permanent Schwarzblau (Permanent Blue Black)
Permanent Braun (Permanent Brown)
Permanent Blau (Permanent Blue)
Permanent Grün (Permanent Green)
Königsblau (Royal Blue)
Permanent Türkis (Permanent Turquoise)
Permanent Violett (Permanent Violet)
Auswaschbar Schwarz (Washable Black)
Permanent New Blue

Pelikan:
Menthe (Mint Green)
Khaki (Khaki)
Umbra (Umber)

Private Reserve:
Buttercup
Tanzanite
Orange Crush
Lake Placid Blue
Fiesta Red Sonic Blue
Black Cherry
Midnight Blue
Plum
Naples Blue
Copper Burst
Blue Suede
Sherwood Green
Velvet Black
Speamint
Avacado Shell Pink
Purple Haze

W.B.P.(Waltraud Betghe Papiere) Classic Colours :
Zirkusrot (Circus Red)
Schilfgrün (Reed Grün)
Aubergine (Aubergine)
Pralinébraun (Praline Brown)
Königinnenblau (Royal Blue)
Flanellgrau (Flannelgrey)
Lotusblau (Lotus Blue)

All in all a very useful reference which costs about the same as a couple of bottles of ink. It could save you buying the wrong ink, but it's more likely to encourage you to buy the right ones! Highly recommended.

Copies of Part II are available directly from Michael, you can email him at mkl5157@freenet.de, and cost 30 Euro shipped to the US or 25 Euro within Europe. Michael will also be able to confirm by email, availability and a list of inks for the re-issue of Part I.