National Typewriter Day – June 23:

The Typewriter Century:

A Cultural History of Writing Practices

By Martyn Lyons.

Studies in Book and Print Culture.

Published by University of Toronto Press.

Published 2021.

Illustrated.

ISBN-10: 1487525737

ISBN-13: 978-1487525736

Description:

This book captures the intensity of the relationship between writers and their typewriters from the 1880s, when the machine was first commercialized, to the 1980s, when word-processing superseded it. Drawing on examples from the United States, Britain, Europe, and Australia, The Typewriter Century focuses on "celebrity writers," including Henry James, Jack Kerouac, Agatha Christie, Georges Simenon, and Erle Stanley Gardner, who wrote prolifically and mechanically, developing routines in which typing, handwriting, and dictation were each allotted important functions. The typewriter de-personalized the text; the office typewriter bureaucratized it. At the same time, some authors found a new and disturbing distance between themselves and their compositions while others believed the typewriter facilitated spontaneous and automatic typing. The Typewriter Century provides a cultural history of the typewriter, outlining the ways in which it can be considered an agent of change as well as demonstrating how it influenced all writers, canonical and otherwise.

Mechanical Typewriters:

Their History, Value, and Legacy

By Thomas A. Russo.

Published by Schiffer.

Published 2002.

ISBN-10: 0764315455

ISBN-13: 978-0764315459

Description:

A fascinating and scholarly look at the machines that revolutionized office communication from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nearly 700 color photographs display mechanical typewriters produced by Adler(TM), American(TM), Corona(TM), Grundka(TM), Hall(TM), Monarch(TM), Remington(TM), Royal(TM), Smith Corona(TM), and many others. An overview of the historical development of the typewriter includes patents and brief histories of the manufacturers. Additionally, a detailed bibliography, index, and current market values in the captions are also provided. Set designers, historians, and typewriter collectors will learn how technical developments changed the designs through the decades.

Typewriter:

The History – The Machines – The Writers

By Tony Allan.

Published by Shelter Harbor Press.

Published 2015.

ASIN: 1627950346

ISBN-10: 9781627950343

ISBN-13: 978-1627950343

Description:

Personal computers may have replaced the typewriter in most homes and offices, but the venerable writing machine is currently staging a comeback. From portable models that hipsters are snapping up in Urban Outfitters to Tom Hanks's bestselling app that recreates the manual experience on a tablet, the typewriter has never been so hot. This celebration of the typewriter covers what a platen knob is, why QUERTY won out over other arrangements of keys, which authors loved (or loathed) their typewriters, and much more.

A gift book with yellowed paper and typewriter fonts for a cool vintage look.

Timeline of the typewriter features key models.

Foreword by Paul Schweitzer of Gramercy Typewriter Co.

Documentary:

California Typewriter

documentary directed by Doug Nichol,

written by Max Nichol,

released at the Telluride Film Festival in the United States on September 2, 2016.

Music by Mark Ambrosino.

Cast: Silvi Alcivar, Ken Alexander, Tom Hanks, Martin Howard, Tom Lecky, Jeremy Mayer, John Mayer, David McCullough, Jett Morton, Herbert Permillion, Richard Polt, Anthony Rocco, Sam Shepard, Darren Wershler, Mason Williams.