Graphite pencil
Lápiz de grafito
- Date
- c. 1565 · confidence medium
- Place
- Borrowdale, Cumbria, England
- Credited to
- Shepherds of Borrowdale; described by Conrad Gesner (1565)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A stick of pure graphite from the Borrowdale deposit, wrapped in string or wood, leaving an erasable grey mark. It replaced the lead point and charcoal as an instrument for drawing and note-taking.
It was believed to be a form of lead (plumbago), hence the name. The first wood-cased pencils are documented in Nuremberg around 1660.
What it led to
- Quick sketches and notes in science, art and commerce
- The English monopoly on graphite and strategic smuggling
- The pencil industry of Nuremberg (Staedtler, Faber)
Built on
- Sized paper with watermarksc. 1280
- Silverpoint
Made possible
- Rubber eraser1770
- Graphite-clay pencil (Conté)1795
- Pencil sharpener1828
- Conté's graphite-and-clay pencil (1795)