History of the Typewriter

—258— whole bank of type, but, of course, only the letter which has been inked will leave an impression. The platen immediately falls back and exposes the printing to the full view of the operator. The Typograph has thirty-six keys. They are ranged in three banks, squarely before the operator like the keys of a piano. In the centre of the keyboard are two shift- keys, a spacer, and a reverse spacer, this latter being in itself an entirely novel feature. Although the Typograph has only thirty-six keys, it is capable of printing 118 distinct characters, a large increase on ordinary typewriters. This result is due to the construction of the machine, which allows each key to act upon three different characters. By combination other and different characters, including all typographical and commercial marks, can be made. So also can fractions, as low as eighths, and accented letters. This latter feature makes the machine available for foreign languages. If two keys are struck together on ordinary typewriters the result is a clashing which is apt to put the machine out of gear. With the Typograph it is not so. The stroke either becomes inoperative, or else one key gives way to the other. Mr. Addey called his machine “ portable,” because it weighed only twelve pounds. Its dimensions were as follows : height, six inches ; width, ten inches ; and length, fourteen inches. It was comparatively simple in con- struction, and did not consist of more than 200 parts. 1876. Allen: R. P. T. A patent was issued to this gentleman, but the machine was never put on the market. The Scientific American, in explaining the machine, says :— “ In Allen’s machine, the carriage is moved back for a new line by means of a cord, pulley and weight, the last named sliding in a suitable casing at the inside of the frame, and in the other direction by a cord and button, the weight serving in connecting with a double paw to move the paper laterally, with each marking of the type, while the button serves to bring the carriage and paper back to admit the forward feeding of the latter for the next line. The types are arranged in a circular basket so as to strike a common centre, and are connected by curved type-rods and levers with keys disposed in a manner similar to the arrangement in the ordinary typewriter of to-day. The movable carriage and paper-feeding mechanism are arranged at the upper or top part of the