Montblanc Writers Edition Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Fountain Pen

At the center of the intellectual awakening of the 18th century stood one man in particular, whose written word has stood the test of time: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Polyhistor, a giant of German literature, lawyer, minister, theater director, and a gifted collector and naturalist, he was in every respect a revolutionary, determined to push the boundaries of perception and knowledge. An entire generation saw itself reflected in the fate of the unfortunate Werther.

The novel even influenced this limited edition: the impressive description of marble inspired the appearance of the precious lacquer on the cap and the holder, while the engraving on the holder ring reflects the framing of a copperplate illustration in an early Werther edition. Another important design feature refers to Goethe's house in Weimar. The blue shade and the pattern of the precious lacquer reflect the color and texture of the wallpaper in the Juno room in the writer's house. The distinctive gilded and platinum-coated details also evoke other decorative elements in the interior.

A charming pattern, similar to a string of clover leaves, is engraved around the top of the cap. This detail comes from a letter Goethe wrote to his beloved Charlotte Buff, who was the model for the character of Lotte in his The Sorrows of Young Werther. Goethe's Faust: A Tragedy is considered one of the most translated and performed plays in the world. Goethe himself praised a series of lithographs by the painter Eugène Delacroix, which he made on commission as illustrations for the French translation of Faust. His image of Mephistopheles, flying above the nocturnal city, is reflected in the detailed scene engraved on the pen tip. The letters 'Faust' and '1790' refer to the publication date of Faust in Leipzig. A Fragment. Faust's thirst for knowledge and his irresistible urge to unveil the secrets of the world reflect Goethe's own passion for researching natural phenomena. At an advanced age, he even considered his scientific achievements to be more valuable than his poetic ones. In his Theory of Colors, he covered a wide range of topics, from physics to color psychology, thereby opening up an entirely new perspective on the essence of color.

He also devoted himself to optics and anatomy, biology and geology, and archived thousands of scientific specimens in jars and boxes. The slightly curved shape of the cap, resembling a historical glass jar of a chemist, is a tribute to Goethe's achievements as a scientist and collector. The clip in the shape of a leaf honors his studies in the field of morphology and especially his proposal for an archetypal plant form. He even translated this idea into verse form in his didactic love poem The Metamorphosis of Plants. The inspiration for the overall design of this limited edition, especially for the holder and the cone, is derived from the type of historical writing instrument with which Goethe put all his knowledge, insights, and the fruits of his seemingly boundless poetic imagination on paper.