Typewriter
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Typewriter. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a machine fitted with types which print by a pressure on the ys with the fingers. The principle, keys Keys briefly stated, is that of a series of rods pivoted to keyed rods, rods, similar to the acends of the rods tion of a pianoforte, the carrying the characters of the alphabet and all striking on a common center. There is a self-inking arrangement, and several minor improvements have been added in recent years, bringing the invention to a high state of perfection. It is on record that one Henry Mill obtained a patent in England, Jan. 7, 1714, for such a machine. The record does not describe it, except that it was a device to write in printed characters one letter at a time, one after another. Strange as it may seem, there does not appear to have been another effort made for more than 100 years, for the next record found is that of the "Typographer," the first typewriter invented in the United States, patented by William A. Burt, of Detroit, Mich., in 1829. After this came the the English patent of 1841 to Alexander Bain and Thomas Wright, entitled, "A Machine to Print Intelligence at Distant Places." It was designed simply for what is now called the printing telegraph. All printing telegraphs are really nothing more nor less than typewriting machines, and that machine had many of the devices and characteristics of the typewriter. It was not, however, a successful machine, and never came into The next record is that of the use. United States patent to Charles Thurber, of Worcester, Mass., in 1843. Thurber's machine was slow and tedious. The next is that of the patent to Fairbanks, in 1848. It consists of several series or systems of vertical converging rods, the rods of each system adapted to be pushed up vertically, like piston rods, against a common impinging point. On the upper end of each rod was the desired type. The machine was designed for printing colors on cloth, but it really belongs to the typewriting art, and is now properly classed therewith. It, however, was impracticable, and was never used. The next is that of the French patent to M. Pierre Foucault, a blind man in the Paris Institute for the Blind, in 1849. This machine printed embossed letters to be read by the blind. The machine proved a success. Several of them were made and were sent to and used in the blind institutions of Europe. It was exhibited at the World's Fair in London, in 1851, and commanded much attention. The next is the patent of Oliver T. Eddy, of Baltimore, in 1850. No model of this invention can be found. No machine of the kind ever came before the public. In issued; in 1852 there was another patent 1854 another; in 1856 three others, one being to A. Ely Beach, of the "Scientific American," and one to Dr. Samuel W. Francis, of New York, Oct. 27, 1857. After that several other patents were issued in 1858, 1859, 1860, and so on up to 1865 or 1866; but none of these inventions proved to be of much practical value. The writing machine called the typewriter was invented at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1867, by C. Latham Sholes, Samuel W. Soulé and Carlos Glidden. One device after another was conceived and developed till 25 or 30 experimental in struments were made, each succeeding one a little different from and a little better than the one preceding. They were put into the hands of stenographerspractical persons who were presumed to know better than any one else what would be needed and satisfactory. In this way the invention grew till, at the beginning of 1873, the device was thought has complete. The use of the typewriter completely revolutionized the copyist's trade, and the useful little instrument is one of the most valuable labor-saving devices of modern times.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a machine for printing correspondence, legal documents, bills, receipts, and other forms of manuscript. There are many makes. Although they are alike in general construction, there are two distinct classes of machines, the basket machine and the cylinder machine. The Remington is one of the earlier and more prominent of the basket machines. The Hammond may be regarded as a representative of the cylinder machine. In the first or basket machine the paper passes over a vulcanized rubber roller. A type for each letter of the alphabet is affixed, hammer fashion, to the end of a narrow lever. The levers are pivoted in a frame. The free ends are arranged in a sort of keyboard, with small, circular keys, of which the action and fingering are somewhat like those of a piano. By striking the keys one by one with the tips of the fingers, the hammer-like types force an inked ribbon against the paper and print their letters on it. The types strike at precisely the same spot, but as each key is struck it releases a traveling frame in which the roller and paper are held. A spring carries the frame and paper one space to the left so that the next letter appears in its proper position. A blank key is struck to space between words. The cylinder machine is constructed on a somewhat different principle. The type are all fixed in a cylinder. The keys cause the cylinder to revolve, so as to bring the characters into position. The paper is struck by a little hammer. A ribbon travels between the paper and the cylinder of characters. Each type of machine has its advocates. Punctuation marks are, of course, provided and, on the more complete machines, keys for the various signs used in billing and in business correspondence. By arranging sheets of paper with alternate sheets of carbon paper several duplicates may be struck off at one writing, or rather printing. Serviceable machines cost from $20 to $100. Typewriters are made with keys bearing the alphabets of many languages. The Arabic machine requires eighty-four characters. A patent for a writing machine was issued in England as early as 1714. An ingenious Frenchman devised something of the sort in 1784. The first American machine was patented in 1843. The first machine to combine lightness of touch, speed, and accuracy was the Remington. It may be said to have become an assured success in 1873. Typewriters were introduced slowly, but their use is now general. It is not unusual to see from twenty to five hundred machines at work in a single counting room. The manufacture of typewriters centers chiefly in the United States . About three out of every five American-made typewriters are produced in the state of New York . The city of Syracuse may be considered the world's center of the industry. Basing estimates on the statistics for 1906, it may be said 150,000 to 200,000 machines are made in the United States annually. They represent a wholesale value of perhaps $7,000,000. A full half are exported. Our best customers are naturally the nations having the largest business interests,--the United Kingdom , Germany, France, and Russia, but shipments are made directly or indirectly to every commercial city in the world. 2026 Editor's Note: The typewriter rebuilt the office and who worked in it — the 'typewriter girls' of this era were the vanguard of women's office employment. QWERTY, already standard here, outlived the machine itself. See typewriter . (Ed: BR 2026-07-13)