How could you mend a pencil?
If the verb "to mend" means to repair, it is very difficult for me to visualise how it should be possible to repair a broken pencil.

But in the book I try to read now there is a phrase "... asked John one day, as he stood beside her mending a pencil."

Did they have different pencils back in the 19th century (the book is from the 1850s) or did the verb "to mend" use to have a different meaning?

Question

How could you mend a pencil?
If the verb "to mend" means to repair, it is very difficult for me to visualise how it should be possible to repair a broken pencil.

But in the book I try to read now there is a phrase "... asked John one day, as he stood beside her mending a pencil."

Did they have different pencils back in the 19th century (the book is from the 1850s) or did the verb "to mend" use to have a different meaning?

Answer

http://www.todayinsci.com/D/Dixon_Joseph/Pencils-GoodHousekeeping.htm

You made me curious.  After skimming the site above, I would say that pencils were not at first, sharpened to a point.  The term mend was a hold over from the term used for adjusting the shape of a quill, "mend."

Answer

I have never heard of anybody 'mending' a pencil, only sharpening one.

Answer

I think during that time, 'to mend a pencil' probably meant 'to sharpen' because sharpeners were not used during that time.