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Dame Thomasina Chesterfield, noted adventuress and woman
of letters, claimed to have invented the pencil, but in
truth, she stole the idea from the Pencil People of
Madagascar while on expedition there in 1801.
The Pencils were appalled when they found this intruder
writing with one of their sacred implements in a
non-traditional way - with her hand - and banished "the
snotty Englishwoman" from the island.
