It was supposed to be magazines …

August 26, 2020 1:53 PM

Jason Scott of the Internet Archive discovers a huge trove of printing and typewriter lore in the Tytell collection.

(Martin Tytell, previously.)

posted by scruss (12 comments total)

*swoon*
posted by chavenet at 2:03 PM on August 26, 2020

Nerdy as hell. Big thumbs up.
posted by rmd1023 at 2:46 PM on August 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm at that point in my relationship where I'm easing into cohabitation, but am a little unsure how to broach the subject of my need for a closet just for my absurdly large collection of portable manual typewriters.

Can't wait to dig through all this.
posted by sonascope at 3:07 PM on August 26, 2020 [10 favorites]

Ohhhhhh -

oh my.

I LOVE things like this - I love vast archives covering the multitudinous diverse facets of a thing, especially when the archive is the embodiment of someone's passion, or expertise.

(There's a bit of a discussion over on the Scots version of wikipedia thread about "good" internet experiments. I submit that the Internet Archive is one of the very best internet experiments, and I am glad they exist, and are willing to provide a good home to this extraordinary and wonderful collection.)

I hadn't looked at the IA blogs in ages, so I'm very grateful to have been prompted to take a look at this.

Jason's last paragraph is especially lovely.

Thank you so much for posting this, scruss - and Jason, thank you for saying yes to this offer, and for documenting it for us!
posted by kristi at 3:12 PM on August 26, 2020 [4 favorites]

Every time I see a story like this, I think how wonderful it is that there was a time when things were tangible, and with luck would live on, to be rediscovered and re-experienced. Show a kid these days, a typewriter. Let them type on it. It’s magic. Want to experience the joys of a past word processor? Good luck. How much of our culture and technology today will just disappear as software and machines become obsolete and unusable?
posted by njohnson23 at 4:05 PM on August 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

Much of the culture that lasts will have lasted because of the work of the Internet Archive and projects like it.

sonascope: if your absurdly large collection of typewriters needs an absurdly large (alas, nonfunctional) typewriter, I present to you The Blunderwood Portable. (disclaimer: I know some of these nerds)
posted by rmd1023 at 4:32 PM on August 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

<Jones>
THIS BELONGS IN A MUSEUM
</Jones>
posted by GuyZero at 5:32 PM on August 26, 2020

*squee*
posted by lon_star at 8:28 PM on August 26, 2020

I'm very much looking forward to seeing some of these riches once they're digitized - meanwhile there are more photos of the collection here.
posted by misteraitch at 12:20 AM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

The in story in The Atlantic containing the Burmese anecdote is a joy:

I told Mr. Tytell my problem, and he told me he certainly could fix it. I said I would bring the typewriter in next week. "You should bring it in as soon as possible," he advised. "I'm an old man." [...]

posted by Joe in Australia at 3:01 PM on August 27, 2020

I shared this with a few friends and colleagues.
A publisher, a book restorer, one who runs a literary magazine, another who turns out lovely artifacts.
They all seemed to be the type.
posted by doctornemo at 7:51 PM on August 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

In 2004, Fantagraphics continued its Complete Peanuts series with a volume reproducing the strips from 1951 and 1952. One strip showed Peppermint Patty using a manual typewriter, along with a publisher's footnote explaining exactly what this puzzling machine was used for. That footnote made me feel very old when I first saw the book, but I can quite see why they felt the need to include it.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:31 AM on August 30, 2020