書評：完美的鉛筆

查爾斯·祖伯 博士 【譯】本刊編輯部

AS DESIGNERS,WHO AMONG US DOESN’T ALWAYS HAVE A FEW PENCILS HANDY,YET HOW MANY OF US KNOW MUCH OF THE HUMBLE PENCIL’S HISTORY?

作為設計師，我們當中誰不總是手邊有幾支鉛筆，然而我們中有多少人知道不起眼的鉛筆的歷史呢？

According to Caroline Weaver,the story begins with the discovery of graphite in the 16th century.Among the many uses that graphite was put to,the pencil must rate as the most significant for artists and designers,even though its history is relatively unknown.

根據卡羅琳·韋弗的說法，這個故事始于16世紀發現石墨。在石墨的眾多用途中，即使它的歷史相對未知，鉛筆對藝術家和設計師來說也是最重要的。

Who knew that Burrowdale mine in England was the most significant source of graphite for pencils,and remained so for a couple of centuries? In its raw form,the graphite was blended with clay,and then encased with suitable timber to form what we know as a lead pencil.Although lead was never a component of the pencil,the name has remained in use to this day.

誰知道英國的伯羅代爾礦是鉛筆用石墨的最重要來源，而且持續了幾個世紀？在其原始形態中，石墨與粘土混合，然后用合適的木材包裹起來，形成我們所知的鉛筆芯。雖然鉛從來不是鉛筆的組成部分，但這個名字一直沿用至今。

In the early chapters Weaver takes the reader on an easy,well researched journey into the development of the wood cased pencil,noting the 18th century saw the emergence of some of the companies that we are familiar with today,such as Conte,Staedtler,and Faber Castell.

在最初的章節中，韋弗帶領讀者踏上了一段輕松又精心研究的木桿鉛筆發展之旅，指出18世紀出現了一些我們今天所熟悉的公司，如康特、施德樓和輝柏嘉。

As well as the developments in technology and manufacturing,she weaves a tale of family feuds and jealousies right the way through to the 19th and 20th centuries.

隨著科技和制造業的發展，鉛筆世家進行了長期的互相競爭，一直貫穿于19世紀和20世紀，這種競爭也促進了鉛筆業的發展。

By the 21st century there were many improvements and the manufacturing processes took on a more varied international style.

到了21世紀，有了許多改進，制造工藝呈現出更加多樣化的國際風格。

Towards the end of the book the author takes a particular interest in the USA and the pencil’s development there.This it not surprising as we learn more about her own business,a small shop on the lower east side of Manhattan.Her personal investment in collecting pencils shows in this labour of love resulting in this fascinating hardback publication.

在本書的結尾，作者對美國及其鉛筆的發展特別感興趣。這并不奇怪，因為我們了解了更多關于她自己的生意，一家位于曼哈頓下東區的小店。她在收集鉛筆上的個人投資體現了這種愛的辛勞，從而使這本有趣的精裝本出版。

IF THERE IS ANY CRITICISM TO BE MADE,IT IS THAT THE ENTIRE BOOK IS ILLUSTRATED BY ONLY ONE PERSON–ORIANA FENWICK.HER WORK GIVES THE BOOK A GRAPHIC STYLE AND SOME UNITY,BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT A WIDE RANGE OF EXPRESSIVE,CREATIVE WORK IS ABSENT.

如果要提出任何批評，那就是整本書的插圖僅由一個人—奧莉安娜·芬威克來完成。 她的作品賦予了本書圖形化的風格和統一性，但同時也意味著缺少大量富有表現力的創造性作品。

The photographic influence on the style of the illustrations makes them appear too much like warm,softfocus photographs.Some expressive and divergent “works on paper“could have demonstrated just how versatile the pencil can be in the right hands.The capacity to use a variety of pressures and the right grade of pencil guided by a beautiful eye often tells us how talented artists sketched out the foundations of many famous artworks using the pencil.

攝影對插圖的渲染使它們看起來更像溫暖柔和的照片。鉛筆在使用中可以充分表達多種效果，呈現一些富有表現力和發散性的“紙上作品”。有才華的藝術家使用不同濃度等級的鉛筆，運筆輕重結合，勾勒出許多著名藝術作品，給人們帶來美妙的視覺體驗。

Despite this criticism,the hardback book is nonetheless a well-designed publication that gives the reader so much information about the humble drawing implement that we call the lead pencil.It’s a good book for all art and design students,and a reminder that not all communication devices involve a computer to start with.After all,the pencil is still the perfect tool to pick up first for nearly all artists and designers.

盡管有這樣的批評，精裝書仍然是一本精心設計的出版物，為讀者提供了很多有關鉛筆這種不起眼的繪圖書寫工具的信息。這本書對所有藝術與設計專業學生來說都是一本好書，同時也提醒我們，并非所有溝通手段都是從電腦開始的。畢竟，對幾乎所有的藝術家和設計師來說，鉛筆仍然是首選的理想工具。