June 2017
Intermediate to advanced
144 pages
3h 31m
English

Isaac Pelepko, Mako in Profile, pencil on paper
1564
The largest graphite deposit ever discovered was unearthed in Cumbria, England. At first, the mineral was thought to be a soft type of lead, and the association stuck: We still refer to pencil “lead,” even though there is no lead in pencils.
1565
Conrad Gesner, a Swiss naturalist, is the first person to study and describe graphite.
LATE1500s to 1600s
Graphite is used as a lubricant for cannons and other armaments. It was also sawed into sticks and used as a tool for marking sheep, which led to the discovery of its possibilities for drawing. Its artistic uses soon became ...
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