Posted April 29, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 3 comments »
Image via Biffybeans
As I mentioned yesterday, the word “hematite” is derived from the Greek word for “blood,” which matches the earthy red tones of J. Herbin’s new anniversary ink.
It also points to some nautical associations: according to legend, sailors wrote with blood whenever ink was not available. I can’t seem to find any further information about this idea (the words “ink” and “blood” and “sailors” turn up a lot of stuff about tattoos; there’s also Sailor brand ink), but perhaps others have heard of it?
J. Herbin was a sailor — according to the Herbin website, he brought back new formulas for sealing wax from his many trips to India, and made ink for Louis XIV. The drawings that adorn the Rouge Hematite box were inspired by his life:
• The ship, anchor, and palm tree stand for navigation and discovery
• The crown is a reference to the red sealing wax that was used in correspondence with the royal courts in Europe
Interesting stuff, eh?
Posted April 28, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Announcements, Pens, Paper & People | 3 comments »
I had the privilege recently of asking Laurent Nusse, CEO of J. Herbin, a couple of questions via email about Rouge Hematite, the much-heralded red ink that was created to mark the company’s 340th anniversary.
Why red? Blue is the most common color, but Laurent said the company felt it was too conventional for an anniversary ink. They asked a few customers what colors would interest them, and a lot of people mentioned red; since Herbin’s original logo is red, the choice seemed obvious.
Why the name “hematite”? Hematite is a mineral that can be red, and the word is derived from the Greek word for “blood.” Since the ink has a dark red earth tone, Herbin felt that it matched the hematite association.
What’s up with the wax on the cap? It’s reminiscent of the way French grand crus are packaged, where sealing wax proves the authenticity and origin of the wine. Speaking of which, I should note that the company is apparently working on a new cap that’s sealed with stronger wax. (The 300 bottles we currently have in stock all have the old, fragile wax that’s been frustrating users and reviewers, unfortunately. UPDATE: The new bottles should be available in June.)
More lore and information to come…
Posted April 7, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »
Karen tipped me off to this lovely set of doodles from reader Cole Wardell, whose blog, The Orchard, features lots more gorgeous artwork and plenty of pen and paper musings.
I love the interplay between the formal script and the informal blotches of ink… meanwhile, be sure to check out the full-sized image here (or here, shot from a different angle).
Posted March 22, 2010 by Guest Author
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »
Guest blogger Kate Marshall is back this morning with a good subject for the accident prone: waterproof ink.
So one time, I was transcribing notes and accidentally knocked over my glass of water. Yes, all over my notebook. Luckily, my notes were okay because I’d written them with a waterproof fountain-pen ink: Noodler’s Black.
Yes, such a thing exists. Recently, I did a quick and dirty test of three waterproof Noodler’s inks, a J. Herbin fountain pen ink, and two waterproof J. Herbin inks to see how well they hold up against liquid abuse.
The inks I tested were:
I. Noodler’s (recently purchased during the 2010 Philadelphia Pen Show)
1. Black
2. Bad Blue Heron (a new turquoise color)
3. Old Manhattan Black (exclusive to Fountain Pen Hospital)
II. J. Herbin (provided by Exaclair)
1. Perle Noire (not specifically labeled waterproof but more on that later)
2. Encre Authentique (“Lawyer’s ink”)
3. Encre Chine (“China ink.” Also can be known as “India ink”)
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Posted March 3, 2010 by Leah Hoffmann
in Beautiful Creations, Pens, Paper & People | Add your comment »
We just got a couple new images from Christian Skagen’s “Horizontal Fields” series, which we blogged about last week (with my apologies for having flubbed the title; sorry — it’s “Horizontal Fields,” not “Horizontal Lines” as I first wrote).
Anyway, click through to see some pieces Christian made with J. Herbin Rose Tendresse and Bleu Azur and a Pelikan M250 EF:
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Posted February 18, 2010 by Karen Doherty
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 2 comments »
I recently had an email from my friend, Kass Speerly of The Ink Sampler, asking me about J. Herbin’s ink – l’Encre des Vaisseaux – The Ink of Ships. “I’ve seen the logo for the bottles of this ink before,” she wrote, “but never the ink. I assume it is no longer produced, but I am interested in some information about it, such as what the color was, what it’s primary use was intended for, when it was produced and when it went out of production. Also, curiously, could it ever be produced again.”
Those are all good questions for which I don’t have a ready answer. But I will try to find out over the course of this year. Some information may be gleaned from the collective memory of the J. Herbin staff in France. I also plan to add a Wiki on historical J. Herbin inks to jherbin.com, so people anywhere in the world can contribute what they know or have discovered so we all can benefit.
The one piece of information I have about The Ink of Ships is that it was created in M. Herbin’s workshop prior to 1700. The rest is my conjecture…
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Posted February 19, 2009 by Karen Doherty
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People | 50 comments »
During the recent “planner review” we found a good number of people use fountain pens. Based on their tests and comments, from now on we are are not labeling any product as “fountain pen friendly” unless it is 90 g and up.
Some people (planner reviewers and other friends) were kind enough to review some of our J. Herbin inks. Here are a few I am aware of: Biffy Beans, Spiritual Evolution of the Bean (please scroll down to “Bean’s Ink and Pen Reviews”); Margana, Inkophile and Murderface, Reciprocal Crap Exchange. Thank you all!
St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, so I thought it might be fun to offer our green inks (plus our orange!) to anyone out there who would like a bottle of ink to review. J. Herbin makes Vert Pre, Diabolo Menthe, Vert Olive, Lierre Sauvage, Vert Reseda, Vert Empire, and Orange Indien. See them all here.
I have a limited supply to give away. One bottle per person. 
You are welcome to send us photos of your tests, scribbles, sketches, doodles and artwork.
Enjoy!
