Who was Hymen Lipman?

On March 30, 1858 Hymen Lipman received the first patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil. In 1862 Lipman sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000, who went on to sue pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell for infringement. In 1875 the US Supreme Court ruled against Reckendorfer declaring the patent invalid.

An interesting feature of Lipman's design has the eraser actually installed within the wood of the pencil opposite from the writing core end. In this manner, the pencil could be sharpened on both ends to refresh either the graphite core or eraser.

Hymen L. Lipman was born March 20, 1817 in Kingston, Jamaica to English parents. The family emigrated to the United States around 1829, arriving in Philadelphia, Pa. where he resided for the remainder of his life.