Editing Pencil (section)

===Graphite deposit discoveries===
As a technique for drawing, the closest predecessor to the pencil was [[silverpoint]] or leadpoint until, in 1565 (some sources say as early as 1500), a large deposit of [[graphite]] was discovered on the approach to [[Grey Knotts]] from the hamlet of [[Seathwaite, Allerdale|Seathwaite]] in [[Borrowdale|Borrowdale parish]], [[Cumbria, England|Cumbria]], England.<ref name="norgate">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/lgaz/lk00976.htm
 |title       = Old Cumbria Gazetteer, black lead mine, Seathwaite
 |year        = 2008
 |first1= Martin|last1=Norgate|first2=Jean|last2=Norgate|publisher=Geography Department|location=Portsmouth University
 |access-date  = 19 May 2008
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090107062352/http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/lgaz/lk00976.htm
 |archive-date = 7 January 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name="wainwright_western" >{{Cite book|title=A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Western Fells
  |first=Alfred|last=Wainwright
  |year=2005
  |publisher=Frances Lincoln |isbn=0-7112-2460-9
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~jaszczak/borrowdale.html
 |title       = Graphite from the Plumbago Mine, Borrowdale, England
 |publisher   = Department of Physics at Michigan Technological University
 |access-date  = 27 March 2008
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080314044343/http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~jaszczak/borrowdale.html
 |archive-date = 14 March 2008
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name="Petroski-1990">[[#Petroski, 1990|Petroski, 1990]], pp. 168, 358</ref> This particular deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into sticks. It remains the only large-scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/wad.htm
 |title       = Lakeland's Mining Heritage
 |publisher   = cumbria-industries.org.uk
 |access-date  = 27 March 2008
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080315083301/http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/wad.htm
 |archive-date = 15 March 2008
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> [[Chemistry]] was in its infancy and the substance was thought to be a form of [[lead]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} Consequently, it was called ''plumbago'' (Latin for "lead [[ore]]").<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.answers.com/topic/plumbago
 |title       = Definition of Plumbago
 |publisher   = Answers.com
 |access-date  = 21 April 2007
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070813202330/http://www.answers.com/topic/plumbago
 |archive-date = 13 August 2007
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/plumbago
  |title=Definition of Plumbago
  |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com
  |access-date=21 April 2007
}}</ref> Because the pencil core is still referred to as "lead", or "a lead", many people have the misconception that the graphite in the pencil is lead,<ref>''The big book of questions and answers'', Publications International LTD, (1989), p.189, {{ISBN|0-88176-670-4}}.</ref> and the black core of pencils is still referred to as ''lead'', even though it never contained the [[Chemical element|element]] lead.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Have pencils ever contained lead?|url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/have-pencils-ever-contained-lead/|access-date=2020-08-27|website=BBC Science Focus Magazine|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Ever wondered about the lead in pencils?|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/ever-wondered-about-the-lead-in-pencils/2014/11/26/f8b5869c-548a-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 26 November 2014|access-date = 5 October 2015|issn = 0190-8286|first = Howard J.|last = Bennett|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151106222853/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/ever-wondered-about-the-lead-in-pencils/2014/11/26/f8b5869c-548a-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html|archive-date = 6 November 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = Pencil swallowing: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia|url = https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002817.htm|website = www.nlm.nih.gov|access-date = 5 October 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151006022505/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002817.htm|archive-date = 6 October 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = graphite pencils {{!}} The Weekend Historian|url = https://umeshmadan.wordpress.com/tag/graphite-pencils/|website = umeshmadan.wordpress.com|access-date = 5 October 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151007164114/https://umeshmadan.wordpress.com/tag/graphite-pencils/|archive-date = 7 October 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/metals/lead.html|title=Lead Facts - Uses, Properties, Element Pb, Plumbing, Pipes, Weights|website=www.sciencekids.co.nz|access-date=2016-10-29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030075725/http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/metals/lead.html|archive-date=30 October 2016}}</ref> The words for pencil in German (''Bleistift''), Irish (''peann luaidhe''), Arabic (قلم رصاص ''qalam raṣāṣ''), and some other languages literally mean ''lead pen''.

The value of graphite would soon be realised to be enormous, mainly because it could be used to line the moulds for [[Round shot|cannonballs]]; the [[mining|mines]] were taken over by [[the Crown]] and were guarded. When sufficient stores of graphite had been accumulated, the mines were flooded to prevent theft until more was required.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The usefulness of graphite for pencils was discovered as well, but initially graphite for pencils had to be smuggled out of England. Because graphite is soft, it requires some form of [[encasement]]. Graphite sticks were initially wrapped in string or [[Leather|sheepskin]] for stability. England would enjoy a monopoly on the production of pencils until a method of reconstituting the graphite powder was found in 1662 in Germany. However, the distinctively square English pencils continued to be made with sticks cut from natural graphite into the 1860s. The town of [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]], near the original findings of block graphite, still manufactures pencils, the factory also being the location of the [[Derwent Pencil Museum]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/
 |title       = Keswick Pencil Museum
 |publisher   = Pencilmuseum.co.uk
 |access-date  = 23 July 2009
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090803153941/http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/
 |archive-date = 3 August 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> The meaning of "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pencil&allowed_in_frame=0 |title= pencil |first=Douglas|last=Harper |date= 27 June 2012 |dictionary= Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date= 27 June 2012 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120823161324/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pencil&allowed_in_frame=0 |archive-date= 23 August 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>