Montegrappa’s limited editions are conceived to provide their discerning owners with a taste of Italy, to feel the presence of the great masters who passionately breathed life into their works and made them immortal. Among the limited edition series produced by Montegrappa is a brand-new collection series named Mightier Than the Sword. As the name implies, by glorifying the pen and the written word, the candidate is a special person who has enriched and enhanced life by contributing to mankind through philosophy, politics, the arts and other fields. Prominent among the subjects of the Mightier Than the Sword Collection will be writers, politicians, national heroes and other notables.
The first to inaugurate is Ernest Hemingway – one of the most innovative and influential writers, reporter and novelists of the 20th century, one who wrote, coincidentally, with Montegrappa pens!
The Montegrappa writing instruments collection named after the author is divided into four exclusive editions: “The Soldier”, “The Writer”, “The Fisherman” and “The Traveller”. Each of these four retells a particular life period or passion of his and is embodied in a pen, offered in the three types – fountain, roller and ballpoint pen. Each model in the four topics is a limited edition of 100 examples, totalling 300 pens for each subject. All pens in the series are produced in celluloid with Sterling Silver trim. Only 10 examples of each of the three pen types are trimmed with 18k Gold.
Of particular significance in the history of Montegrappa is Hemingway having spent time during World War I in Bassano del Grappa at Villa Cà Erizzo, next to the pen manufactory. One of his greatest works, A Farewell to Arms (1929), was inspired by his relationship with a nurse during his time in Veneto and many of the descriptions of the area draw inspiration from the views of Bassano, and so is The Soldier pen.
Made in Bamboo Black celluloid and Sterling Silver diamond-cut trim, the Soldier writing instruments are embellished with symbolic engravings of Bassano’s Alpini bridge, the cap top is crowned by the medal of valour design and the barrel end features a virtuous detail of the typical Ford T – Red Cross Ambulance, which Ernest Hemingway used to drive as a military at that time.
“The idea for a pen collection dedicated to Hemingway had been put on the back burner for more than twenty years…,” said in one of his interviews to the press Giuseppe Aquila, CEO of the company, “… meeting his nephew John allowed us to make this dream come true.”
During his latest visit to Bassano del Grappa last March, John Hemingway – Ernest’s grandson and a writer too, was a special guest at Montegrappa’s official presentation of the Hemingway’s pen collection at Villa Ca’ Erizzo, followed by an emotional evening at the town Civic Museum, where he narrated in an especially touching and human way once more the life-story of his family, concluding much to the delight of all that “it all started here – in Bassano – the saga of Hemingway…”.