Dewey Perfect Self-Filling Fountain Pen

On January 10, 1900, Edson Dewey wrote to Mary Baker Eddy. Although he was aware of her longstanding desire for Christian Scientists to show their gratitude for her in ways other than lavish presents, he hoped she would nevertheless accept this unsolicited gift. Dewey and Eddy had become briefly acquainted one year earlier, when he arranged to deliver an inscribed copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to his cousin Admiral George Dewey, a hero of the Spanish-American War.

Today I send by mail a perfect Dewey pen for your own use, realizing you should have the best of everything, and while I desire more than all not to disobey your wish in offering you a present, I assure you I do this that I may lessen your pen cares in giving you something to use in this line….¹

The instrument that Dewey included was a striking gold fountain pen with Mother and Jany 1, 1900 inscribed on its cap and barrel. His motive in sending Eddy the gift may not have been entirely altruistic; he did not send her just any pen but specifically one of his own design—the “Dewey Perfect Self-Filling Fountain Pen,” made by A.A. Waterman. Dewey’s own business, The Colonial Pen Company, manufactured and distributed various pens for Waterman.

Far from being upset, Eddy was thrilled. She wrote to him on January 14:

You must have apprehended my need. The old fountain pen was leaking and I needed the new. God grant that all your needs be supplied by Him who knows them. And that I give to the world through the pen you have given me things ‘new and old’ – something higher than happiness, even blessedness.²

         Letterhead of Edson Dewey’s Colonial Pen Company.

Included in her thank-you note was a valuable piece of information that reveals more about Eddy as a writer. In his original letter Dewey had offered to take the pen back and have it adjusted to her hand, and she was pleased to offer him feedback. The not continued:

You requested me so kindly to have the pen suit my hand. I will say – I naturally turn the nib towards the right in writing, and find the ink dim and not given down then but when I watch myself and turn the pen over toward the left the ink flows and the lines are smooth. It is my fault is it not?³

Fountain pen in detail

Dewey was, needless to say, happy and relieved that his gift had found a welcome audience. “I cannot put in words how happy I am,” he wrote, “to know I can do ever so little for ‘Mother’ who has done so much for me and mine.”⁴ He immediately offered to customize further pens for her, to match the grip she described: something less fancy, something more like a “weekday or working day pen.” He also requested the opportunity to always provide her with “a perfect easy working pen and its repairs.”

Eddy accepted that offer. And on receipt of the new “weekday” pens Dewey sent subsequently, she published notices in both the Christian Science Sentinel and The Christian Science Journal praising the pens and their innovative designs:

The Dewey’s “Perfect” Fountain Pen has recently entered my employ, and after one month’s trial I find it well named, – perfect. I had tried various styles of fountain pens, but not until I got “Dewey’s Perfect Fountain Pen”; did I find one that meets the demand in every respect. To write with this pen is indeed a pleasure, it never fails to make its mark; and the construction is such there is no joint through which the ink can leak and stain the fingers…. ⁵

Dewey was understandably delighted with this publicity. He wrote again to thank her Eddy, saying that since the publication of her notices he had received numerous orders:

I have received several letters from different states expressing a desire for a pen the same as Mother is using. I feel that I have received many blessings within the past few months and am truly grateful for them all. I hope each day to become more and more worthy.⁶

Dewey’s thoughtful, simple gift provides insight into the importance of writing in Eddy’s life. Here was a tool through which she could continue to communicate her ideas. Her appreciation of its beauty and practical functionality speaks to her work as a writer.