ANTIQUE TYPEWRITERS,Mutiple Antique Engravings ,1894 Antique Wood Engraving

Historical Collectible Art Print

No one person can be said to have invented the typewriter. Like the light bulb, automobile, telephone and the telegraph, a number of people contributed insights and inventions which eventually resulted in commercially successful instruments. In 1714 Henry Mill obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that from the patent sounds similar to a typewriter, but nothing further is known. Other early developers of writing machines include Pellegrino Turri (1808) who also invented carbon paper. Many of these earliest machines, including Turri's, were developed to allow the blind to write. In 1829 William Austin Burt patented a machine called the "Typographer." Like many of these other early machines, it is sometimes listed as the "first typewriter"; the Science Museum (London) describes it merely as "the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented," but even that claim may be excessive since Turri's machine is well known. Even in the hands of its inventor it was slower than handwriting. Burt and his promoter John D. Sheldon never found a buyer for the patent, and it was never commercially produced. Because it used a dial to select the character instead of having an individual key for each character, it was an "index typewriter" rather than a "keyboard typewriter", if it is to be considered a typewriter at all. From 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production. Charles Thurber developed multiple patents; his first in 1843 was developed as an aid to the blind. See Charles Thurber's 1845 Chirographer, as an example. In 1855 the Italian Giuseppe Ravizza created a prototype typewriter called " Cembalo scrivano o macchina da scrivere a tasti". It was an advanced machine which let the user see the writing as it was typed. Father Francisco João de Azevedo, a Brazilian priest, made his own typewriter in 1861 with poor materials, such as wood and knives. D. Pedro I, the Brazilian emperor, on that very year, presented a gold medal to Father Azevedo for this invention. Many Brazilian people as well as Brazilian federal government recognize Fr. Azevedo as the real inventor of the typewriter, which has been the subject of controversy. The Austrian Peter Mitterhofer created a typewriter in 1864 but it was never produced commercially. Mitterhofer continued to improve his original model and created 5 different enhanced typewriters until 1868. In 1865 Rev. Malling Hansen of Denmark produced the Hansen Writing Ball which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported being used in offices in London as late as 1909. Additionally, Hansen used a solenoid escapement to return the carriage on some of his models, and was responsible for the first "electric" typewriter.

Approximate Overall Size: 6 X 9 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate - Excellent Condition. As Scanned. German Text. Beautiful with excellent detail. SINGLE PAGE BLANK ON THE BACK