“A Brief History of the Invention of the Type-Writer”

Document: A Brief History of the Invention of the Type-Writer, which is offered for download here (70 MB PDF).

Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict published a history of the typewriter sometime between 1882 and 1886, in a small volume (4 1/2″ x 6 1/2″) advertising the models 1, 2 and 4.¹ Entitled “A Brief History of the Invention of the Type-Writer,” this rare volume affirms that the No. 1 was offered with several different typefaces. Collector Peter Weil mentioned this in a Facebook post in February, describing that the No. 1 was sold with five varieties of type as early as 1875 or 1876. He included a printed, though undated, advertising letter with his post.

That document describes five typefaces:

• Small Gothic
• Small Roman
• Large Gothic
• Large Roman
• Script Type, a lower-case typeface, which included a “capital indicator”

The same information was printed in a promotional newspaper dates to August 1877. This material was sold on eBay for around $1,200 in 2016! — see my post here–, and I archived the images:

This is the same sheet as that Peter Weil posted to Facebook.

Here is the Script Type.

“A Brief History…” describes five typefaces:

• Small Roman
• New Small Roman
• Large Roman
• Small Gothic
• Large Gothic

These are the type specimens in “Brief History…” for the Nos. 1 and 4 (both single-case machines):

The Homiletic Review in 1888 mentioned that the No. 1 was still offered with “two or three styles of type” —

Copies of “A Brief History of the Invention of the Type-Writer” are scarce. Theodore Munk describes a similar document here which he dates to 1884. That document can be downloaded here. My copy likely pre-dates it, as page 27 has been modified with a slip of adhesive paper, likely updating the brochure with more up-to-date information. Mine also does not mention the No. 3.

You can download my copy here.

© 2020, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.

1. The document mentions 1882, and its publisher George B. Walbridge died in 1886. [↩]