Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing

by Anthony Casillo, Bruce Curtis (Photographer), Tom Hanks (Forward)

From the creation of the QWERTY keyboard to the world's first portable typing machine, this handsome collection is a visual homage to the golden age of the typewriter. From the world's first commercially successful typewriter—the Sholes & Glidden Type Writer of 1874—to the iconic electric models of the 1960s, eighty vintage devices are profiled in elegant photographs and fascinating text that highlights the design modifications, intricate details, and peculiar quirks that make each typewriter unique. From functional advances like noiseless machines to luxurious details such as mahogany covers and inlaid mother-of-pearl, a century of design innovation and experimentation is charted in these pages. Packed with visuals and rich with history, Typewriters is the essential story of a writing invention that changed the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Reference, Design, Art

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2017

Reviews

[Charlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typewriter porn. Hide it under your mattress so your mom doesn't find it.

The Bar-Lock No. 4 is a dish.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photos of 80 fantastic typewriters from 1874 to 1969 with a brief history of each; some the last of its kind. Anthony Casillo tells us how he became that accidental collector and how he acquired some of these vintage beauties. I personally fell in love with several. If you're a typewriter aficionado this is the book for you.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a whirlwind overview of typewriter history, the rest of the book features typewriters from the author's collection. Really, really glad this was a library book.

[Mills College Library]

652.3 C339 2017

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently watched the documentary "California Typewriter" that focuses on a typewriter sales and service business that manages to remain in business despite the shift to personal computers. (http://californiatypewritermovie.com) In addition to description of the business, there are different experts, some of whom are well known, who attest to the significance of typewriters, such as Tom Hanks. There is also a fellow who collects typewriters, including a particular interest in some of the earliest models.

This book, which also has a short forward by Tom Hanks, provides photographs and brief histories of 80 of the most famous typewriters in the history of these devices from the first in the 1870s to the IBM Selectric of the 1960s. There is also a short introduction about collecting typewriters and a brief history of the development of typewriters.

The development of typewriters somewhat remind me of the development of bicycles around the same time, except that bicycles were superseded by automobiles fairly quickly compared to typewriters and PCs.

One of the notions put forth by Tom Hanks and others is that typewriters enforce or cause a different way of writing from writing on a PC, which allows such easy editing. I suppose . . . I am more enamored of Mr. Hank's suggestion that having a typewriter to type up thank you or other notes that are then sent by mail is so much more meaningful than sending an email. There is little doubt about that, although I'm not sure if a typewritten note is more meaningful than a handwritten note.

I can't say I was sorry to see the last typewriter in a government office. We probably got rid of the last IBM Selectric-II some time before 2010. There were a handful of forms that were not available as PDFs that could be done quickly with a typewriter, but the last Selectric-II eventually had problems and there was no way to have it fixed.

[Natalie Pietro · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something very nostalgic about a typewriter. It reminds me of my mother...one of those 80's goddess typing away on their hip IBM Selectric typewriter. So quick the sound mesmerized you and awoke you when you heard the sound of the ding, it's time to make a new line. This book brought back many childhood memories.
Memories so clear I can feel the vibration of the IBM shaking beneath my fingers. Waiting for me to play around pretending to be my mother typing so quick it excited me. Our typewriter was very boring compared to the other typewriters featured in this book. Blocky and tan, classic yet unoriginal.
I found a few favorites I wish I could inquire. The 1932 Smith-Corona Portable (Sterling Silver) typewriter originally $127.50 is amazingly beautiful. With the shinny silver and the perfectly placed alphabet keys. Also the 1935 Corona Standard with Animal Keyboard Typewriter original price $49.50. It was super cute with all the animals details to match the letters and the elephant details on the space bar. Oh and how could I forget the 1936 Corona Sterling with Musical Keyboard. The music notes make a great addition to this ever so popular model.
I wish we could go back to this time when typewriter made you slow down and think. A time when it wasn't so easy to erase you precious thoughts. A time of brilliance and craftsmanship.
Be as it may I loved this book and the wonderfully crafted typewriter.

[Darren Cormier · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who love typewriters or who grew up using typewriters or fascinated by old machines, this book is pornography.
I grew up using a typewriter and was even able to find a model similar to my own Royal Deluxe in here. (Mine isn't as rare as the one highlighted in the book, but it's still cool to see it represented.)
Also, there were a couple of small typos, which would usually annoy me in the moment, but in this case I found charming, since the type was clearly from a typewriter itself.
Makes me want to add to my collection (currently at one.)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for information on how to repair typewriters, so it did not serve my purpose. However, it is a beautiful book with very good photos of many old typewriters. If you are a collector or thinking about becoming a collector, this would be a terrific book to read. The information is interesting. I never knew that there were typewriters for musical notes. I really recommend the book if you are at all interested in the history of typewriters.

[Luis Cuesta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway . It is a really good book about the history of typewriters. It follows the advent and progression of the manual typewriter. Also there are a lot of photographs (large, clear and in color) that are very high quality and enable excellent detailed review of the fantastic variety of historical typewriters.

[kerrycat · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who learned (with much stress and a lot of crying) to type in high school on a manual typewriter, I loved not only the beautiful photographs in this volume but the accompanying information about each machine as well as details on the evolution of the typewriter, sales figures, and miscellaneous facts (did Ian Fleming have the one with gold-plate? of course he did!). Very engaging.

[LillyBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is porn. Pure, unadulterated porn. I lusted over every page of beautiful photographs: the soft keys, the shiny metal . . . I could hear the clickety-clack in my head. Never has typing been so desirable.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good showcase of typewriters

A fine book detailing different typewriters. Perfect for anyone interested in them. I felt like I was walking through a museum as I perused the various typewriters. I thought the pictures were wonderful and served as good visual aids.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a coffee table book in the style of a museum exhibition on typewriters. Beautiful pictures, but the terminology was a little confusing. I m sure this can be rectified by a YouTube search for identifying typewriter parts.

[Racek · Rating 5 out of 5]

evolution of typewriter technology

From the earliest designs to the 1960’s, A quick description of the evolution of the typewriter with well photographed color pictures of each model described.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat book about typewriters. Lots of rare ones featured.

[Rick Jackofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful coffee table book. "Typewriters" creates a pictorial history of rare and iconic typing machines manufactured between 1874 and 1969.

[Tao · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good list of all the fancy manual typewriters, with nice pictures and descriptions. My favorite topic.

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

A splendidly photographed coffee table book that offers a page per example of 80 of the most historically important typewriters, stopping at 1969. A fascinating jaunt through the ark of discovery for this tool that changed the world, then disappeared from view. I am delighted to see a resurgence in typewriter use, and as a collector's item. I fondly remember the one I had for my university years.
One of my favorite features is a list given at the beginning, typed/written by Tom Hanks- a known connoisseur of typewriters - offering his Eleven Reasons to Use a Typewriter. The feature of each brief that I liked was discovering the original price of these machines.

[Alice Oakey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it over and over and looked at beautiful pictures. I own and use a typewriter so it was fun looking at gorgeous typewriters, made me a little sad for the typewriter time in our history.