Available as Hardback
10 September 2026
A lively, idiosyncratic history of the pen in the vein of Bill Bryson and Stephen Fry, by the bestselling author of Just My Type, On the Map and To the Letter
From a reed cut on the banks of the Nile to the Sharpie, the pen has been with us for millennia. And all of humanity – from our faintest notions to our wildest inventions, our gossip and legends, our grandest proclamations and most intimate confessions – has flowed from a quill, ink chamber or ballpoint tip. The pen is the enduring link between a writer and anyone, anywhere, who can read their words. But the pen’s own story is just as eventful as anything it has described.
In this expansive and engaging history, Simon Garfield traces the pen’s remarkable journey across time and place. He examines the inks and instruments used by Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, meets innovators and obsessives, travels to the workshops of pen makers and into wartime trenches, discovers why fountain pens make such good gadgets for spies and assassins, and learns about the bestselling pen that wouldn’t stop leaking.
Written with Garfield’s trademark wit and drawing on his own research and interviews, The Pen examines how this everyday object has been the indelible marker of our shared culture – and why it continues to shape the way we communicate in the digital age.
“A paean to the pen - glorious and golden … At last, a book celebrating my most precious possession. I am so glad to better understand its history, and I shall appreciate my pen even more every time I pick it up”
Emma Thompson
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“After the wheel, the pen must be the second most important invention in human history. Or perhaps the most important: we can use a pen to describe a wheel, but we can’t use a wheel to describe a pen. The many forms of this mark-making tool, from the simplest to the most extravagantly inventive, are celebrated in Simon Garfield’s delightful book full of profound knowledge and unbounded pleasure”
Philip Pullman
“You used to be able to tell a keen writer by the callus on their middle finger caused by regular use of their pen. They’re rarely spotted nowadays, but anyone who has read Simon Garfield’s brilliant treasure chest of fascinating stories will be rushing out to buy a pen - and we’ll be flaunting our writer’s lump with pride”
Jacqueline Wilson
“There really isn’t a topic about which Simon Garfield can’t find a lively tale to tell … From László Bíró and George Safford Parker to the exploding pens of James Bond, Garfield once again shows what a rich history there is to explore”
esquire
“The pen has been waiting a long time for its biographer, and in Simon Garfield it has found the perfect one. Erudite, entertaining and full of wonderful surprises, this is a book to savour - a warm, witty and engrossing celebration of one of humanity’s greatest inventions. I adored every page”
Shaun Usher
Simon Garfield
Simon Garfield was born in London in 1960. He is the author of an appealingly diverse and unpredictable canon of non-fiction, including the bestsellers Mauve, Just My Type and On The Map. He is a trustee of Mass Observation, and is the editor of several books of diaries from the archive, including Our Hidden Lives and A Notable Woman. His recent books include Timekeepers, In Miniature and All the Knowledge in the World. He lives in London and Cornwall.
simongarfield.com