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(shè)計(jì)師，我們當(dāng)中誰(shuí)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(jù)卡羅琳·韋弗的說(shuō)法，這個(gè)故事始于16世紀(jì)發(fā)現(xiàn)石墨。在石墨的眾多用途中，即使它的歷史相對(duì)未知，鉛筆對(duì)藝術(shù)家和設(shè)計(jì)師來(lái)說(shuō)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(shuí)知道英國(guó)的伯羅代爾礦是鉛筆用石墨的最重要來(lái)源，而且持續(xù)了幾個(gè)世紀(jì)？在其原始形態(tài)中，石墨與粘土混合，然后用合適的木材包裹起來(lái)，形成我們所知的鉛筆芯。雖然鉛從來(lái)不是鉛筆的組成部分，但這個(gè)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(jié)中，韋弗帶領(lǐng)讀者踏上了一段輕松又精心研究的木桿鉛筆發(fā)展之旅，指出18世紀(jì)出現(xiàn)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(yè)的發(fā)展，鉛筆世家進(jìn)行了長(zhǎng)期的互相競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，一直貫穿于19世紀(jì)和20世紀(jì)，這種競(jìng)爭(zhēng)也促進(jìn)了鉛筆業(yè)的發(fā)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(jì)，有了許多改進(jìn)，制造工藝呈現(xiàn)出更加多樣化的國(guó)際風(fēng)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(shū)的結(jié)尾，作者對(duì)美國(guó)及其鉛筆的發(fā)展特別感興趣。這并不奇怪，因?yàn)槲覀兞私饬烁嚓P(guān)于她自己的生意，一家位于曼哈頓下東區(qū)的小店。她在收集鉛筆上的個(gè)人投資體現(xiàn)了這種愛(ài)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(píng)，那就是整本書(shū)的插圖僅由一個(gè)人—奧莉安娜·芬威克來(lái)完成。 她的作品賦予了本書(shū)圖形化的風(fēng)格和統(tǒng)一性，但同時(shí)也意味著缺少大量富有表現(xiàn)力的創(chuàng)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(duì)插圖的渲染使它們看起來(lái)更像溫暖柔和的照片。鉛筆在使用中可以充分表達(dá)多種效果，呈現(xiàn)一些富有表現(xiàn)力和發(fā)散性的“紙上作品”。有才華的藝術(shù)家使用不同濃度等級(jí)的鉛筆，運(yùn)筆輕重結(jié)合，勾勒出許多著名藝術(shù)作品，給人們帶來(lái)美妙的視覺(jué)體驗(yàn)。

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(píng)，精裝書(shū)仍然是一本精心設(shè)計(jì)的出版物，為讀者提供了很多有關(guān)鉛筆這種不起眼的繪圖書(shū)寫(xiě)工具的信息。這本書(shū)對(duì)所有藝術(shù)與設(shè)計(jì)專(zhuān)業(yè)學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)都是一本好書(shū)，同時(shí)也提醒我們，并非所有溝通手段都是從電腦開(kāi)始的。畢竟，對(duì)幾乎所有的藝術(shù)家和設(shè)計(jì)師來(lái)說(shuō)，鉛筆仍然是首選的理想工具。