The history of the origin of a simple pencil. Start in science
What, it would seem, is interesting in an ordinary pencil? But without him - nowhere. Even the first astronauts flew with him into space. After all, he can write not only in space, but also under water, and upside down! It does not flow (which is very important), and its inscription is easily removed. And most importantly, how can you draw without it? So no computer keyboard can replace it. So how did the history of the pencil begin?
distant ancestor of the pencil can be considered a firebrand from a fire, with which primitive man made the first drawings on the walls of caves.
With the advent of paper ink and ink. But carry them with you, wait for them to dry, worry about blots .... No, the artists needed something else. Charcoal came to the rescue. Dry willow sticks were tied into bundles, put in a pot in the oven and waited for them to become coals. But it was inconvenient to use them: the coal got their hands dirty and smeared over the drawing.
But, starting from the 13th century, artists used thin silver wire for drawing, which was soldered to the handle and stored in a case. Probably from that moment it can be considered that the pencil history. Such a "silver pencil" required high skill, since it was impossible to erase what he had drawn. There was also a "lead pencil".
Three hundred years later there were graphite pencils. English shepherds from the Cumberland area found a dark mass in the ground, with which they began to mark the sheep. This mass was similar in color to lead, and the deposit was mistaken for deposits of this metal. But since bullets could not be made from it, they began to make thin sticks pointed at the end from the new material and draw with them. These sticks were soft, dirty hands, and only good for drawing, not writing.
Artists, to make it comfortable and the stick not so soft, clamped these graphite "pencils" between pieces of wood or twigs, wrapped them in paper or tied them with twine.
Modern pencil invented two hundred years ago by the French scientist Conte. At this time, England banned the export of graphite from the country. For violation of this decree, the punishment was very severe, up to the death penalty. Conte suggested making writing rods from a mixture of graphite powder and clay and placing them in a wooden shell. He came up with the idea of processing the mixture with high temperatures, and the pencil core finally became solid!
More than 200 years have passed, and pencils are still made according to this recipe. But their form as soon as over the years has not changed! They are round and with edges, there are pencils with a magnifying glass at the end or even with bells. They call, and it's more fun to write! There are pencils with a multiplication table, with the alphabet, road signs. And even for schoolchildren who tend to gnaw on them, made vitamin pencils!
Modern appeared many centuries ago. The first mention of it appeared in the 13th century.
Pencil: history
Starting from the 13th century, artists used thin silver wire for drawing, which was soldered to a pen or stored in a case. This type of pencil was called a "silver pencil". This instrument required a high level of skill, since it is impossible to erase what it has drawn. Its other characteristic feature was that over time, the gray strokes applied with a silver pencil turned brown. There was also a "lead pencil", which left a discreet but clear mark, and it was often used for preparatory sketches of portraits. The drawings made with silver and lead pencils are characterized by a fine line style. For example, Dürer used similar pencils.
Also known is the so-called Italian, which appeared in the XIV century. It was a core of clay black shale. Then they began to make it from burnt bone powder, fastened with vegetable glue. This tool allowed you to create an intense and rich line. Interestingly, artists still sometimes use silver, lead and Italian pencils when they need to achieve a certain effect.
Pencil: graphite and wood
Graphite pencils have been known since the 16th century. A powerful storm that passed through England in the Cumberland area uprooted the trees, and then the local shepherds found in the bare ground under the upturned roots a certain dark mass, which they considered to be coal, which, however, failed to be set on fire. Due to the color similar to the color of lead, the deposit was mistaken for deposits of this metal, but the new material was unsuitable for making bullets. Then, after various tests, they realized that this mass leaves good marks on objects, and took advantage of this to mark their sheep. Later they began to produce thin sticks pointed at the end of it and used them for drawing. These sticks were soft, dirty hands, and only good for drawing, not writing. In the 17th century, graphite was usually sold on the streets. Artists, to make it more comfortable and the stick not so soft, clamped these graphite "pencils" between pieces of wood or twigs, wrapped them in paper or tied them with twine.
The first document that mentions a wooden one is dated 1683. In Germany, the production of graphite pencils began in Stein near Nuremberg in 1719. The Germans, mixing graphite with sulfur and glue, received a rod of not such high quality, but at a lower price. In 1758, the carpenter Kaspar Faber also settled in Stein and began his production of pencils in 1761. What was the beginning of the history of Faber-Castell.
In 1789, the scientist Carl Wilhelm Scheele proved that graphite is a material made of carbon. He also gave the current name to the material - graphite (from other Greek γράφω - I write). Since graphite was used for strategic purposes at the end of the 18th century, for example, for the production of a crucible for cannonballs, the English Parliament imposed a strict ban on the export of precious graphite from Cumberland. Prices for graphite in continental Europe skyrocketed, as at that time only graphite from Cumberland was considered exceptional for writing. In 1790, the Viennese craftsman Josef Hardmuth mixed graphite dust with clay and water and fired the mixture in a kiln. Depending on the amount of clay in the mixture, he was able to obtain material of varying hardness. In the same year, Josef Hardmuth founded the Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth pencil business, named after the Kohinoor diamond (Persian کوہ نور - "Mountain of Light"). His grandson Friedrich von Hardmuth improved the mixture formula and in 1889 was able to produce rods with 17 different degrees of hardness.
Independently of Hartmut, in 1795, the French scientist and inventor Nicolas Jacques Conte made a graphite dust rod using a similar method. Hartmut and Conte are equally progenitors of the modern pencil lead. Until the middle of the 19th century, this technology was widely used throughout Europe, which led to the emergence of such well-known Nuremberg pencil factories as Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Lyra and Schwan-Stabilo. The hexagonal shape of the pencil body was proposed in 1851 by Count Lothar von Faber-Castell, the owner of the Faber-Castell factory, noting that round pencils often roll off inclined writing surfaces. This form is still produced by various manufacturers.
Polymers are used in modern leads, which allow achieving the desired combination of strength and elasticity, making it possible to produce very thin leads for mechanical pencils (up to 0.3 mm).
Almost two-thirds of the material that makes up a simple pencil goes to waste when it is sharpened. This prompted the American Alonso Townsend Cross to create a mechanical pencil in 1869. The graphite rod was placed in a metal tube and could, if necessary, be extended to the appropriate length. This invention influenced the development of a whole group of products that are used everywhere today. The simplest design is a collet mechanical pencil with a 2 mm lead, where the rod is held by metal clamps - collets. The collets are released by pressing a button on the end of the pencil, allowing the user to extend the lead to an adjustable length. Modern mechanical pencils are more perfect - each time the button is pressed, a small section of the lead is automatically fed by a unidirectional pusher, which holds the lead instead of collets. Such pencils do not need to be sharpened, they are equipped with a built-in (usually under the lead feed button) eraser and have various fixed line thicknesses (0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, 0.9 mm, 1 mm).
Every day we use many simple things that make our life more convenient and comfortable. They are familiar to us since childhood and we rarely think about the history of their appearance. For example, how and when did the first pencil appear, which today can be found in every home and in every school bag. Meanwhile, its appearance was preceded by a difficult and interesting history of the invention. It began in those ancient times, when a person had the first need for a written expression of the images he saw and his own thoughts.
It can be considered the prototype of the modern pencil, the beginning of its history. It was a thinly elongated rod made of lead or other metal. In fact, he did not write, but simply scratched on a softer surface. In ancient Egypt, papyrus was used for this.
Despite its primitiveness, the stylus was in use until the early Middle Ages and even reached Rus', where soft wax tablets or more accessible birch bark were used instead of papyrus. At the same time, the lead stylus still left, albeit a very weak, mark on the surface. To erase it, they used a bread crumb.
A later invention in the history of the pencil were silver sticks (sometimes lead-zinc), shaped like a piece of metal wire. For ease of use, they were soldered to a special handle and stored in a special case. The gray strokes applied by them, inscriptions and drawings could no longer be erased, and over time they acquired a pronounced brown tint. The device was called the “silver pencil” and was used in the 13th century by such famous masters of artistic graphics as Albrecht Dürer and Botticelli.
Italian pencil
A century later, in the 14th century, the silver was replaced by a pencil, which was called Italian. For the manufacture of its core, at first black shale was used, and then burnt bones, which were ground into a fine powder and fastened with glue of vegetable origin, including vegetable oil. It is from here that the very name “pencil” presumably came from - the origin of the word is associated with the Turkic term karatas (karadas), meaning literally “black slate or stone” in translation. The history of its application is not over to this day, although the composition of the materials used for the rod has become more complicated. Modern artists use them when they want to achieve a certain effect.
"Paris pencil" and other "sauces"
Along with the use of solid materials for writing and drawing, the search began for compositions for self-hardening mixtures with the ability to leave a mark on the surface. The famous "Parisian pencil" was a mixture of white clay and ordinary black soot. Leaving a clear mark, he no longer scratched the paper. A tool of this type is also still used in art graphics. Another recipe was obtained in the 15th century and was a mixture of chalk, coloring pigments and binding fats. As pigments, no longer black, but colored components were used. So the first pastel was obtained. One of the discoveries in this area belongs to Leonardo da Vinci, who managed to get "red chalk" based on the use of iron oxides.
Discovery of graphite
In the 16th century, natural deposits of a hitherto unknown black mineral were discovered in the vicinity of Cumberland. It was found by chance by local shepherds, who at first decided that it was ordinary coal, however, the mineral turned out to be non-flammable. With its metallic luster, it resembled lead, however, and this assumption was not confirmed - the mineral was lighter and completely non-fusible. But he had a remarkable property to leave a clear mark on almost any surface, and the shepherds came up with his first application - they began to mark sheep. The pointed end of the black mineral could be perfectly drawn, however, the matter was greatly complicated by its high fragility. At the slightest pressure, the pointed stick crumbled. In addition, the hands were very dirty.
The origin of the word "graphite" is associated with the name of the German Abraham Werner, who named it so by analogy with the Greek "grapho" (I write).
The appearance of the first graphite pencils
After the discovery of graphite, the mineral went on free sale, since its deposits turned out to be significant. It was bought mainly by artists and people related to drawing professions. To give the material strength and protect hands, a graphite stick was inserted between two wooden planks and tightly screwed with threads or strips of leather. The first brief descriptions of pencils with graphite stems date back to 1565. It was a treatise on minerals by Konrad Gesner. A little later, documents mention pencils set in wood.
First serial releases
The first enterprise in history for mass production of pencils was opened in Germany in Stein (1719). The rod was produced by mixing crushed graphite, sulfur and glue. It must be said that both the quality and the price of the resulting product were very low. 42 years have passed, and the German production was significantly improved by the carpenter Kaspar Faber, who later headed the Faber-Castell corporation, well known to our contemporaries.
The history of the appearance of the pencil is closely connected with the history of graphite. It proved to be useful not only for use in drawing and writing. Soon the British began to successfully apply the properties of this mineral in military affairs, and supplies from Cumberland to other European countries, in particular, to Germany, decreased. As a result, graphite has skyrocketed in price. Deposits of the mineral were subsequently discovered in many other places and countries, however, its scope also grew, especially with the discovery of its diamagnetic properties and applications in the electrical and nuclear industries. This forced us to look for ways to solve the problem, and today people have learned to synthesize an artificial analogue, which is widely used in the production of pencils.
The ancestors of the modern pencil
A great contribution to the history of the development of the pencil was made by the inventor Nicolas Jacques Conte, a Frenchman by birth and a painter by vocation. His own recipe for the production of rods was developed in 1794 and made it possible to obtain a product of the highest quality. The composition included clay, soot, crushed graphite, starch and water. Having received rods of high strength, the inventor realized that this parameter can be changed at will due to the percentage of inclusion of clay and graphite itself. The more clay was added, the harder and stronger the rod became. The higher the percentage of graphite powder, the softer the pencil, and the darker the trace from it. This was a discovery of modern significance. It was it that formed the basis of the softness classification "M", "TM" and "T".
The etymology of this word, first proposed in Russia in the second half of the 19th century by academician J. Grot, was considered indisputable for a long time, and it still prevails in dictionaries. For example:
pencil. From Turkic. *karadas "black stone", tour. karatas "black slate" (Fasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language).
Pencil[…] Borrowed from the 16th–17th centuries. from tour. kara-daş "black stone". The pluggable -n- is explained as in tower sound adaptation of the word in folk speech (Shaposhnikov A.K. Etymological Dictionary of the Modern Russian Language).
But this explanation has two major flaws. Firstly, in the Indo-European and Turkic languages, the words for a pencil come from words with the meanings of 'stone', 'reed', 'lead', but none of these words contains the meaning of 'black'. Secondly, etymologists who adhere to the version of the “black stone” did not sufficiently convincingly explain the presence of the sound [n] in the middle of the word. It was generally difficult to do this within the framework of an established hypothesis, and this circumstance was pointed out by Professor N.K. Dmitriev in the article "On the Turkic elements of the Russian dictionary". The usual etymology of the word was called into question, and linguists continued to search for the origins of the word pencil.
In the twentieth century (by such researchers as N. P. Kolesnikov, Yu. Nemeth, etc.) a new version of the origin of the word was proposed pencil, and it is more reasonable than the previous one. Along with the former etymology, it is included in the Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language, edited by N. M. Shansky.
So what is the new version?
In ancient Greece and Rome, they wrote with sharply sharpened reed sticks, which the Greeks called Kalamos and the Romans kalamus('cane'). This writing tool was adopted by the Arabs, from them it spread throughout the East, and the name kalam entered many languages, partly changing the appearance and meaning. So, currently in Kyrgyz there is a word kalam‘pen as a writing tool’, in Turkish - kalem, in Georgian - kalami with the same meaning, in Bulgarian - kalam('pencil', 'pen', 'cane'), etc.
The ancient kalam improved over time, and it was first thought to insert lead sticks into hollow tubes made of reed stems, and then graphite rods. And in the Turkic languages a new compound word arose * kalamdaš (from kalam‘reed’ and daš 'stone'). In parallel with it, another word was used with a different order of roots and with the same meaning - daš kalam. The Russian language borrowed the first version in the form pencil.
Why has the pronunciation of this word in Russian changed so much? Etymologists explain this by the fact that in our language (especially in dialects and vernacular) the replacement of the sound [l] with [p], and [m] with [n] is not such a rare occurrence. Examples: musu l manin - bass R manin, obmishu l to go - I will cheat R walk up to m multiple - up to n short, ka m handicap - ka n handicap. In addition, similar processes took place in the Turkic languages, so that the replacement of sounds could also occur in their dialects.
Words ascending to form *kalamdash with the meaning ‘pencil’, in modern Turkic languages it is difficult to find: there are homonyms with the meaning ‘colleague in writing, literary activity’. And to designate a pencil, in order to avoid confusion, the word is used kalam. However, in the Azerbaijani language at the beginning of the 20th century, the word galamdash('pencil'). At present, it has almost been supplanted by the corresponding word borrowed from the Russian language.
In a number of Turkic languages, words are preserved that go back to the ancient form *daskalam(for example, Uzbek toshkalam).
The history of the etymological analysis of the word pencil- an example of how, as science develops, even habitual and established hypotheses are discarded if it is proved that they are not sufficiently substantiated.
And finally - a small addition away from the main topic. According to modern linguists, the Greek word Kalamos(‘reed’) goes back to the same Indo-European root as the Russian word straw. Needless to say, you can learn a lot of amazing things about your native language if you are interested in scientific etymology ...
Literature:
Valeev G.K. Pencil: in search of the motherland of the term // Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk University. Ser. 10. Oriental studies. Eurasianism. Geopolitics. - 2004. - N 1. - S. 156-161.
Vvedenskaya L. A., Kolesnikov N. P. Etymology: Textbook. - St. Petersburg, 2004.
Fasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. T. 2. - M., 2004.
Shaposhnikov A. K. Etymological dictionary of the modern Russian language. - T. 1. - M., 2010.
Etymological dictionary of the Russian language / Ed. N. M. Shansky. - T. 2. - Issue. 8. - M., 1982.
Writing tools have been known since ancient times, just at the time when people had a need to draw up documents, correspond or simply record their thoughts.
The creators of the progenitor of the fountain pen can be considered the ancient Egyptians - in the burial of the pharaoh Tutankhamen, a pointed copper tube was found, which was filled with a dark liquid - ink. They slowly flowed down the fibers of the stem and accumulated at the pointed end of the tube. In the process of writing with pressure, a clear thin line remained on the papyrus.
The Romans used the pewter stylus to draw on scrolls of papyrus and parchment, and to write on wax tablets.
Beginning in the 13th century, artists used thin silver wire for drawing, which they soldered to a pen or kept in a case. This type of pencil was called a "silver pencil". This instrument required a high level of skill, since it is impossible to erase what was written with it. Its other characteristic feature was that over time, the gray strokes applied with a silver pencil turned brown. Such tools were used by such masters of graphics as Dürer, Van Eyck and Botticelli.
The history of the pencil begins in the 14th century. The so-called "Italian pencil", which appeared at this time, is known. It was a core of clay black shale.
Then they began to make it from burnt bone powder, fastened with vegetable glue. This tool allowed you to create an intense and rich line. Interestingly, artists still sometimes use silver, lead and Italian pencils when they need to achieve a certain effect.
Charcoal continued to be used, as in ancient times, but no longer in the form of firebrands, but, for example, by specially processing willow sticks in a pot sealed with clay in a furnace.
The appearance of the word "pencil" is most likely connected with the prototypes. It goes back to the Turkic karadas - "black stone" and the Turkish karatas - "black slate". Linguists also associate the word pencil with it - a baby, a little one, a little person, indicating the proximity of its meaning to the German word "stift" - a pencil little one.
Graphite pencils have been known since the 16th century. English shepherds from the Cumberland area discovered a dark mass in the ground, which they used to mark sheep. Initially, due to the color similar to lead, the deposit was mistaken for deposits of this mineral used for casting bullets. But, having determined the unsuitability of the new material for these purposes, they began to make thin sticks pointed at the end from it and used them for drawing. Such sticks were soft, dirty hands and suitable for drawing, but not for writing.
In the 17th century, graphite was usually sold on the streets. Customers, mostly artists, would clamp these graphite sticks between pieces of wood or twigs, wrap them in paper, or tie them with twine.
The so-called "Parisian pencil" ("sauce") was made from a mixture of white clay and black soot. It turned out to be good because it gives a black mark on paper and scratches it less. They are still painted by graphic artists. In France, in the 15th century, pastel was invented by adding pigments and fats to chalk. They used gum arabic or fig tree juice, for example. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with the discovery of sanguine - "red chalk". It is natural kaolin, colored by iron oxides.
The first document that mentions a wooden pencil is dated 1683. In Germany, the production of graphite pencils began in Nuremberg. The Germans guessed to mix graphite powder with sulfur and glue, thus obtaining a rod of not the highest quality, but at a lower price. To hide this, pencil manufacturers resorted to various tricks. Pieces of pure graphite were inserted into the wooden case of the pencil at the beginning and at the end, while in the middle there was a low-quality artificial core. Sometimes the inside of the pencil was completely empty. It is clear that the so-called "Nuremberg Goods" did not enjoy a good reputation.
The modern pencil was invented in 1794 by the talented French scientist and inventor Nicolas Jacques Conte. At the end of the 18th century, the English Parliament imposed a strict ban on the export of precious graphite from Cumberland. Violation of this decree was punished very severely, up to the death penalty. But, despite this, graphite continued to be smuggled into continental Europe, which led to a sharp increase in its price.
On the instructions of the French convention, Conte developed a recipe for mixing graphite with clay and producing high-quality rods from these materials. With the help of processing at elevated temperatures, high strength was achieved, but even more important was the fact that changing the proportion of the mixture made it possible to make rods of different hardness, which served as the basis for the modern classification of pencils by hardness (T, M, TM or in the English version: H - hard, B - soft, HB - medium hard). The numbers in front of the letters indicate the further degree of softness or hardness. It depends on the percentage of graphite in the mixture, which also affects the color of the lead (lead) - the more graphite, the darker and softer the pencil lead.
At the end of the 18th century, the Czech manufacturer J. Hartmut, who produced laboratory glassware, combined clay and graphite, initiating the pencil production of the famous KOH-I-NOOR.
Polymers are used in modern leads, which allow achieving the desired combination of strength and elasticity, making it possible to produce very thin leads for mechanical pencils (up to 0.3 mm).
The familiar hexagonal shape of the pencil case was proposed at the end of the 19th century by Count Lothar von Fabercastle (Faber-Castell), noting that round pencils often roll off inclined writing surfaces.
In Russia, rich in graphite and timber, Mikhail Lomonosov, with the help of the inhabitants of one village in the Arkhangelsk province, launched the production of a pencil in a wooden shell and introduced the concept of “gross” into world use - a dozen dozen. Gross - the daily rate of production of pencils by one master with one apprentice. Until now, all over the world - "gross" is a unit of measurement for the number of pencils.
With the mandrel of a graphite rod in a wooden shell, the appearance and principle of operation of a pencil has not changed for more than two hundred years. Production improves, quality improves, the number of pencils produced becomes astronomical, but the idea of rubbing a layered coloring substance against a rough surface remains remarkably viable.
The invention of a pencil in a wooden frame, due to ease of use, as well as the relative simplicity and cheapness of their manufacture, facilitated the process of fixing and disseminating information. To appreciate the advantages of this innovation, it is necessary to remember that for many centuries writing was associated with such attributes as goose and, later, metal pens, ink or ink. The person writing was chained to the table. The appearance of the pencil made it possible to take notes on the road or in the process of work, when it was necessary to instantly fix something. No wonder our language has firmly entered the phraseological turn: "take it on a pencil."
2/3 of the material that makes up a simple pencil goes to waste when it is sharpened. This prompted the American Alonso Townsend Cross (Cross), a pioneer of modern writing instruments, to create a metal pencil in 1869. The graphite rod was placed in a metal tube and could, if necessary, be extended to the appropriate length.
This humble beginning influenced the development of a whole group of products that are used everywhere today. The simplest design is a mechanical pencil with a 2mm lead, where the rod is held by metal clamps (collets) - a collet pencil. The collets open when a button on the end of the pencil is pressed, resulting in extension to a length adjustable by the owner of the pencil.
On September 15, 1912, 19-year-old Tokuji Hayakawa opened a small metal haberdashery workshop in central Tokyo. Then he managed to invent an eternally sharp pencil. Thus began the career of the founder of Sharp Corporation, one of the leading electronic companies.
It would seem that reinventing the pencil is like reinventing the wheel. But Hayakawa managed to make something completely new out of this simple and familiar object. He came up with an original mechanism that made it possible to keep the pencil point in working condition all the time, and placed it in a metal case. The stylus was pushed out due to the rotation of the case. "Hayakawa's mechanical pencil" - under this name he patented the invention - was devoid of the shortcomings of its predecessor, which was made of celluloid and was terribly uncomfortable, ugly and impractical.
In 1915, Hayakawa put his pencils on the market. They dispersed poorly: the metal case was cold to the fingers and did not look good with a kimono. Hayakawa persisted in working for the warehouse until he received a large order from a trading company in the port city of Yokohama. It turned out that in Europe and the United States, "Hayakawa's pencil" gained popularity. Large Japanese traders quickly assessed the export potential of the new product and began to buy pencils directly from the factory. She was loaded to the limit, and the merchants demanded more and more. Then, for the production of pencils, Hayakawa created another company, while he himself continued to work on their design. In 1916, he developed the head for the lead, and the mechanical pencil took on the form that it retains to this day. The product received a new name - "eternally sharp pencil", Ever-Ready-Sharp Pencil. This is where the name Sharp Corporation comes from.
It is worth once again returning to the mention of the company N.-J. Conte. At the end of the 20th century, it launched the Conte Evolution, a wood-free pencil that can be made on a single production line in just one minute or less. The recipe is secret. It is only known that it is prepared on the basis of synthetic rubber, the solution of which is drawn out in the form of spaghetti, cut into sections, sharpened at one end, cut off at the other (to which an eraser can be added) and covered with paint.
Modern mechanical pencils are more advanced. Each time the button is pressed, a small section of the lead is automatically fed. Such pencils do not need to be sharpened, they are equipped with a built-in (usually under the lead feed button) eraser and have various fixed line thicknesses (0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, 0.9mm, 1mm).
Statistics lovers have calculated that with one ordinary wooden pencil you can draw a line 56 km long or write more than 40 thousand words. But Steinbeck, they say, could write up to 60 pencils in one day. And Hemingway also wrote only with wooden pencils.
There is another curious fact of modern advantages, it would seem, of such a simple tool as a pencil. The US Space Agency (NASA) has been developing a fountain pen for writing in space for more than a year (under a $3.5 million project), and Soviet cosmonauts used trouble-free pencils.
