Page 40 - Auction Team Breker

bers and symbols on a hemisphere to facilitate "quick writing", the vowels operated by the fingers of the left hand, the consonants by the fingers on the right. The intended result – the writing speed would be "easily two to three times as fast as normal, and practice in using the apparatus should be able to bring this speed up to speech speed." – Each of the fifty-four typebars is aligned at a different angle, yet all converge on the paper at a common point. The beauty of Malling- Hansen's design was not restricted to the layout of the typebars, but displayed all the significant refinements of writing machines introduced 40–50 years later: auto- matic carriage return and line spacing, a space bar, a bell to signal the end of the line, provision for carbon paper copies, a ribbon reverse and – most significant of all – visible writing by raising the typing mechanism. – The Writing Ball's most celebrated user – but not its happiest – was the German philosopher Friedrich Nie- tzsche. "Hurrah! The machine has arrived at my house!" wrote Nietzsche to his sister on 11 February 1882 upon the delivery of the machine he had ordered for 375 Danish krone the year before. Beset by failing eyesight, the philosopher had hoped that the new inven- tion would allow him to write more easily. Despite his initial excitement, Nietzsche eventually gave up on the intricate machine after it was damaged during a trip to Genoa, Italy, though not before immortalizing his struggle in verse: "The writing ball is a thing like me:/ Made of iron yet easily twisted on journeys/Patience and tact are required in abundance/As well as fine fin- gers to use us." – Fortunately for its inventory, not all of the reviews were so negative. A journalist visiting the Paris World's Fair in 1878 compared the Writing Ball favorably with the new Sholes & Glidden "Typewriter" introduced by E. Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York, in 1874. "The Danish apparatus has more keys, is much less complicated, built with greater precision, more solid, and much smaller and lighter than the Remington, and moreover, is cheaper." – From a total of only 180 machines produced, only thirty-five are believed to have survived: thirty in museum collections, a handful (in- cluding this one) still in private hands. – This model – serial no. 140 – is in very good working original condi- tion. – Literature: Ernst Martin (1949), "Die Schreib- maschine und ihre Entwicklungsgeschichte", pp. 60, 351 and 460. For background on Nietzsche's machine: http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/friedrich- nietzsches-curious-typewriter.html. – A fabulous design icon as well as an important historical artefact within the history of communication!
– (2–3/2–3) – € 65.000/100.000 – (865/1)
Notizen / Notes