Click to read "The Captain's Blog", a behind-the-scenes look at creating The Shatner Show: the exhibition and book about William Shatner's life and career as interpreted by 76 illustrators and artists.
Oct 9, 2008 at 02:47PM 
The excellent design and typography blog, The Ministry of Type, has used photos from my typewriter tin collection to create vectorized versions. Seeing them in this way really proves that great design is really timeless.
Oct 9, 2008 at 11:59AM 
Writing machines are terrific objects, but of even greater appeal to me is the visual culture of typewriters. I have collected numerous advertisements, typing and secretarial books, sales brochures and promotions, ribbon tins, accessories and typewriter manuals. It is an ongoing obsession. Here are a few images from my personal archive. (I covet these colourful Royals, illustrated below. One of each, please! They are indeed "breathtaking".)
Oct 9, 2008 at 10:00AM 
To find out more about typecasting and for links to other typecastings, I recommend Strikethru (see below for a teaser from her post on The Role of the typewriter in an otherwise modern life) and Fresh Ribbon.
Typewriters Oct 9, 2008 at 09:00AM 
Writer Mark Twain was an early champion of the typewriter, embracing the machine into his life and work and praising its speed and ingenuity. He is noted to have typed his first letter on a Sholes & Glidden Typewriter as pictured above. The date was December 2, 1874 and the recipient of this letter was his brother, Orion.
The model above is an 1867 Malling Hansen Writing Ball, belonging to philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's fondness for typewriters grew out of personal necessity. He suffered blindness and turned to the typewriter, and the assistance of a secretary, in order to carry on his writings.
Nietzsche's philosophy of the typewriter considered the ways in which 'our writing tools shape our thoughts.' For an illuminating and inspired essay on the social and cultural meaning of typewriters ("the coyote contraption"!) I highly recommend Barry Sanders' essay, "Bang The Keys Swiftly," typed on his very own IBM Correcting Selectric III, for Cabinet magazine.
Oct 9, 2008 at 08:15AM 
Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, rewarded his own success by purchasing a gold-plated Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter. "Ian Flaming's gold-plated typewriter, which was commissioned from the
Royal Typewriter Company, New York City, USA, in 1952, was sold for
$89,229 at Christie's, London, England, in May 1995." For more about authors and their typewriters, visit My Typewriter's website and stay tuned for Deidre's post about Mark Twain's typewriter.
Below: Truly the gentleman's typewriter, the gold-plated Remington.
Oct 8, 2008 at 03:31PM 
Amy Karol (Angry Chicken) has restored this beautiful Corona as a gift to her brother. (If you're posting something in honour of Typewriter Week, please email me or leave a comment to let us know, thanks!)
Oct 8, 2008 at 03:26PM 
Camilla Engman has a new typewriter. I am sure she will think of something absolutely lovely to do with it! (It would look great in her new Studio Violet...)
Links, Typewriters Oct 8, 2008 at 12:00PM 
Mark Simonsen is an expert at disproving the accuracy of typefaces used in film. He's micro-analyzed Mad Men and done an outstanding job of providing visuals and detail of the many typographic anachronisms. Oh well, it's still a great show! (see my previous post about the typewriters used in the show.)
