Eberhard Faber: Sole Agent for A.W. Faber in New York

Having completed his law studies in Germany, Johann Eberhard Faber moved to America in 1848. He had spent the previous six months working for the family concern, A.W. Faber, and it was decided he would run the office being established in New York. In 1849, Eberhard purchased and re-opened a storefront on 133 William Street where he sold pencils and other stationery items under his own name. By 1861, the E. Faber pencil factory was established at the foot of 42nd Street along the East River.

After a devastating fire in 1872, a new factory was established just several months later in Greenpoint. By 1877, Eberhard Faber moved his offices from William Street to 718 & 720 Broadway.

Though he had been manufacturing his own brand of inexpensive pencils for some time, his premium products were still being imported from A.W. Faber, such as the pencils pictured here. The main stamp says A.W. FABER No. 2:

And they are counter-stamped with E. FABER 718 & 720 BROADWAY N.Y. SOLE AGENT:

Two years after moving the offices to Broadway, Johann Eberhard Faber died at the age of 57. I don’t know the exact age of these pencils but they belong to the late-1800s; not long before the Eberhard Faber Pencil Co. would dissolve its partnership with A.W. Faber, and strike out on its own.