Samson-Mordan Catalogue of 1898.

The WES Archive contains hundreds of items   Some of these are rare original sources.   Some are held digitally but some are in hardcopy too fragile to digitise.   Each item is given a WES Acquisition Number on receipt.  

This item is WES1147, a Sampson Mordan Limited 28 page illustrated catalogue for 1898 of 'Pencil Cases, Penholders, Toothpicks, Cedar Pencils, Lead Points, etc.’    It is a rare gem.   The original is in the Company Archive of the Imperial Yard Company.   Imperial Yard are the successors of Sampson Mordan and have kindly scanned it in high resolution colour and provided the scan to the WES Archive this making it available for Members and for research.   While the catalogue was printed in black and white with a green cover, the colour scan gives a good representation of the catalogue paper colour and condition as it now is.

Page 20 of the catalogue is illustrated here showing a creative, highly collectable selection of Sampson Mordan writing instruments.   The whole catalogue is an extraordinary reference source for collectors seeking out elusive pieces.   As such it is a valuable as well as enjoyable reference source.

The WES Librarian welcomes additions, especially of such merit.   If the owner of similar items wishes to, it is possible to scan their ephemera at home without disturbing their collections and to make the information available to others.   Such donations are recognised by being placed in a portfolio under the donors name.

WES Members may remember that Sampson Mordan featured in the WES Meeting on the Saturday of LWES 2015 where the catalogue was shown along with a presentation on collected Sampson Mordan items.