Deviation Posting – A Virginia Woolf Pen? Won’t Make Any Difference I’m Afraid

I’ve always thought expensive pens ridiculous. Why, in a world where everyone from hotels and banks to Dunkin Donuts and my internet provider gives me free pens, would I pay a large amount of money for a pen? They won’t make the manuscript any better or easier to research or write, my cheques will still bounce whatever they’re signed with – who cares? Well, idiots is the only conclusion I can come to.

But then you could be a double idiot and buy one of Montblanc’s ‘limited edition’ Virginia Woolf pens I just saw on sale in Taipei’s Sogo store. Why Montblanc has done these is a bit if a mystery except they must think they are mugs out there who will cough up loads of money for them. The Montblanc website claims:

“The Writers Edition “Virginia Woolf” is oriented impressively to the literary heritage of the writer it is named after: 75 years after the publication of the novel “The Waves”, finely engraved guilloche work recalls Virginia Woolf’s most outstanding work and her eventful life. In the form of waves, the guilloche work covers the body of jet-black precious resin, underlining the lighty curved silhouette.”

What bollocks. There’s no indication that Virginia used a Montblanc to write any of her books, love letters to any of her Bloomsbury Group lovers or a suicide note.

It’s highly unlikely Virginia would have used a Montblanc – the company was founded in 1906 (though the founder fled to America having stolen all the company funds in 1909 – so the notion of Montblanc being a rip off is nothing new). Virginia died in 1941 long before the brand became the “icon” of luxury it now claims to be and anyway it was hardly her style to go chasing brands

For most of their history Montblanc produced pretty ordinary pens until acquired by Dunhill when they started hyping up their pens (to the detriment of their quality many pen aficionados claim) and claiming that owning one would somehow make you more like one of their numpty headed Hollywood endorsers (who we can safely say Virginia would have had little time for). The poor old Bloomsburyite must be spinning in her grave!!

So waste money on this nonsense if you want but remember – writing with an overpriced Montblanc Virginia Woolf pen won’t mean that writing of the quality of To the Lighthouse or Mrs Dalloway’s Diary will appear on the page. It’s hardly the pen that makes the difference! Best leave Montblanc to conniving pols signing treaties they know they’re going to break and investment bankers writing themselves bonus cheques.

Still – I do hope to see some fake Virginia Woolf Montblancs on the streets of Shanghai soon.

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