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The Pencil Perfect

The Untold Story of a Cultural Icon

The Pencil Perfect is the tangible tale of the pencil: a utensil that crafts its own story as humans use its sharpened point to write their own.

The Pencil Perfect takes its namesake’s four simple ingredients – wood, graphite, clay, and water – and narrates a tale of worldwide influence and innovation. Caroline Weaver, pencil connoisseur and CW Pencil Enterprise Shop owner, composes texts that extol the nuanced influence of her beloved and humble implement. Illustrations exclusively drawn for The Pencil Perfect by Oriana Fenwick, an artist from Zimbabwe who works with fine details and intense realism, pair with Weaver’s words to present a story that is both endearing and enlightening.

Through profiles of pencil makers, anecdotes about famous writers’ favorite pencils, and essays about the surprising role of pencils in world history and culture, the chronicle of a modest but mighty tool unfolds. Follow the charming contrivance as it guides the course of early communication in the Scientific Revolution, the American Revolutionary War, the Anglo-French War, and the French Revolution: it is a historical journey and a captivating memoir. See how its past contemporarily compares with its use and appearance today – from the Blackwing 602 to novelty ferrules. The development of cultures and communities is laid bare within the timeline of this slender entity.

The Pencil Perfect immortalizes the biography of an inanimate object within its pages for a future cast of historians, writers, and curious minds. 

Editors: Gestalten
Release date: February 2017
Format: 17 × 24 cm
Features: Full color, hardcover, 160 pages
ISBN: 978-3-89955-675-9

Caroline Weaver is a life-long pencil obsessive who owns a shop dedicated solely to wood-cased pencils, new and old, from all over the world in New York City. As a child she coveted a set of Caran d’Ache Prismalo colored pencils and proudly sharpened six early-2000s-era black Ticonderogas before school each day. From there, her love of the pencil and knowledge of the subject flourished. After traveling the world in search of the finest pencils still in production, she opened her shop in 2015. Caroline lives in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan and has a tattoo of a pencil on her forearm.

Payment and dispatch

The following terms and conditions apply:

The products are delivered all over the world.

Dispatch costs (inclusive of legally applicable VAT)

Domestic deliveries (Germany): 

Bücherbestellungen werden grundsätzlich kostenfrei versandt.

Andere Produkte, die keine Bücher sind und deren Bruttobestellwert weniger als mind. 20 € beträgt, werden mit einer 4 € Versandkostenpauschale berechnet.

From an order value of 20,00 € onwards, we deliver shipments free of cost.

Deliveries to foreign countries:

Free shipping to European Union and the USA.
Free worldwide shipping from 60 EUR/USD order value.

For orders below 60 EUR/USD the following shipping costs apply:
European Union & USA : € 0,-
All other countries: € 40,-


From an order value of 60,00 €, we deliver shipments to foreign countries free of cost.

Delivery periods

Unless otherwise specified in the quote, domestic delivery of goods shall be made (Germany) within 2 - 5 working days, for deliveries abroad within 3 - 8 weeks from conclusion of contract (if advance payment agreed from the date of the payment instruction).
Please note that deliveries are not made on Sundays and other holidays.

If you have ordered articles with different delivery dates, we send the articles together in one delivery if no other agreement has been made. The delivery date for the complete order will be the same as that of the article with the longest delivery time.

Accepted Payment options

- Payment by SEPA direct debit
-  Payment via credit card
-  Payment via Sofortüberweisung [immediate transfer]
-  Payment via Google Pay
-  Payment via Apple Pay
-  Shopify Payments, ideal, eps-Überweisung, Bancontact


Further details on payment

When paying by SEPA direct debit, you authorize us by issuing a corresponding SEPA mandate to collect the invoice amount from the specified account.
You will receive a pre-notification at least 5 days before the date of direct debit collection. Please note that you are obliged to ensure sufficient funds in the account on the announced date.


If payment is made using a credit card, your credit card account is debited in conjunction with the conclusion of the contract.


In case of questions, please contact us at the contact details mentioned in the Legal Notice.

The Pencil Perfect takes its namesake’s four simple ingredients – wood, graphite, clay, and water – and narrates a tale of worldwide influence and innovation. Caroline Weaver, pencil connoisseur and CW Pencil Enterprise Shop owner, composes texts that extol the nuanced influence of her beloved and humble implement. Illustrations exclusively drawn for The Pencil Perfect by Oriana Fenwick, an artist from Zimbabwe who works with fine details and intense realism, pair with Weaver’s words to present a story that is both endearing and enlightening.

Through profiles of pencil makers, anecdotes about famous writers’ favorite pencils, and essays about the surprising role of pencils in world history and culture, the chronicle of a modest but mighty tool unfolds. Follow the charming contrivance as it guides the course of early communication in the Scientific Revolution, the American Revolutionary War, the Anglo-French War, and the French Revolution: it is a historical journey and a captivating memoir. See how its past contemporarily compares with its use and appearance today – from the Blackwing 602 to novelty ferrules. The development of cultures and communities is laid bare within the timeline of this slender entity.

The Pencil Perfect immortalizes the biography of an inanimate object within its pages for a future cast of historians, writers, and curious minds. 

English Graphic Design Illustration Visual Culture

Editors Gestalten
Release date: February 2017
Format: 17 × 24 cm
Features: Full color, hardcover, 160 pages
ISBN: 978-3-89955-675-9

Caroline Weaver is a life-long pencil obsessive who owns a shop dedicated solely to wood-cased pencils, new and old, from all over the world in New York City. As a child she coveted a set of Caran d’Ache Prismalo colored pencils and proudly sharpened six early-2000s-era black Ticonderogas before school each day. From there, her love of the pencil and knowledge of the subject flourished. After traveling the world in search of the finest pencils still in production, she opened her shop in 2015. Caroline lives in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan and has a tattoo of a pencil on her forearm.

Payment and dispatch

The following terms and conditions apply:

The products are delivered all over the world.

Dispatch costs (inclusive of legally applicable VAT)

Domestic deliveries (Germany): 

Bücherbestellungen werden grundsätzlich kostenfrei versandt.

Andere Produkte, die keine Bücher sind und deren Bruttobestellwert weniger als mind. 20 € beträgt, werden mit einer 4 € Versandkostenpauschale berechnet.

From an order value of 20,00 € onwards, we deliver shipments free of cost.

Deliveries to foreign countries:

Free shipping to European Union and the USA.
Free worldwide shipping from 60 EUR/USD order value.

For orders below 60 EUR/USD the following shipping costs apply:
European Union & USA : € 0,-
All other countries: € 40,-


From an order value of 60,00 €, we deliver shipments to foreign countries free of cost.

Delivery periods

Unless otherwise specified in the quote, domestic delivery of goods shall be made (Germany) within 2 - 5 working days, for deliveries abroad within 3 - 8 weeks from conclusion of contract (if advance payment agreed from the date of the payment instruction).
Please note that deliveries are not made on Sundays and other holidays.

If you have ordered articles with different delivery dates, we send the articles together in one delivery if no other agreement has been made. The delivery date for the complete order will be the same as that of the article with the longest delivery time.

Accepted Payment options

- Payment by SEPA direct debit
-  Payment via credit card
-  Payment via Sofortüberweisung [immediate transfer]
-  Payment via Google Pay
-  Payment via Apple Pay
-  Shopify Payments, ideal, eps-Überweisung, Bancontact


Further details on payment

When paying by SEPA direct debit, you authorize us by issuing a corresponding SEPA mandate to collect the invoice amount from the specified account.
You will receive a pre-notification at least 5 days before the date of direct debit collection. Please note that you are obliged to ensure sufficient funds in the account on the announced date.


If payment is made using a credit card, your credit card account is debited in conjunction with the conclusion of the contract.


In case of questions, please contact us at the contact details mentioned in the Legal Notice.

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