https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzXvxb-g0vM
You've got to love that Kinnear's character has two of these, one as a "backup".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzXvxb-g0vM
You've got to love that Kinnear's character has two of these, one as a "backup".
Diamant-Blockschrift Ro 209' micro typeface
I've heard of Olympia SG1s with 17 CPI typefaces and some seem to think that 20 CPI machines may exist.
https://www.newenglandtypewriter.com/
Announced intention to open in 2024 on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1cxjxt5/new_typewriter_shop_coming_fall_2024/
apprenticed to Tom Furrier of Cambridge Typewriter Co.
Publisher overwhelmed by response to Welsh Hobbit by [[Stephen Price]]
The one exception is the scene with the Trolls, who in Tolkien’s original speak in Cockney accents, substituted in the translation for Caernarfon Welsh (“Cofi”).
18th-century Welsh Coelbren y Beirdd, widely believed to have been invented by Iolo Morgannwg, originator of many of the traditions around the Eisteddfod.
https://melinbapur.cymru/products/yr-hobyd-the-hobbit-in-welsh-pre-order
https://melinbapur.cymru/
https://www.ebay.com/itm/296524757520
Shaw Walker steel cabinet with brass pulls<br /> 6 columns of 6 drawers for a total of 36. Built in legs. Drawers were listed as 4.5" tall, so likely a 4x6" card catalog even though it was listed as a library catalog from downtown Cleveland Public library.
Listed for 800.00 in Jun 2024
No longer available as of 2024-06-29. May have sold for as much as $800, but not determinable based on this listing.
cost per drawer: $22.22
https://www.ebay.com/itm/226209203023
Oak 20 drawer card index offered on/around 2024-06-24 for $2,900. two columns of 10 drawers each. Local pickup only from Champaign, Illinois
Cost per drawer: $145.00
Typewriter Video Series - Episode 173: Olympia SG-3 by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Joe Van Cleave has noticed that some glasses fit under some typewriter carriages better than others.
This can broaden the number of drink pairings one can make with their typewriter.
https://vintagetypewriters.myshopify.com/products/non-slip-felt-typewriter-pad
Non-slip Felt typewriter pad for $29.50<br /> black felt 12" x 12" x 3/8"
https://www.ebay.com/itm/235636078877
20 drawer 10x2 vertical filing cabinet offered for $2,850 around late June 2024 from Columbus, Ohio.
Cost per drawer: $142.50
Relisted 2024-07-03: https://www.ebay.com/itm/235638387771
Olympia SM Typewriter Wash, Scrub Clean Lid Cover, Restore Paint by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]
Simple Green gets off most dirt and nicotine as well as some White Out. Duane uses Nu-Trol Control Cleaner (for electronics) as a mild specialty cleaner for tougher White Out cleaning.
Weller, Charles Edward. The Early History of the Typewriter. Chase & Shepard, printers, 1918. http://archive.org/details/earlyhistorytyp00wellgoog.
The keys beingattached to the type bars and working inunison with the carriage movement enabledus for the first time to test the work ofprinting words and sentences. We werethen in the midst of an exciting politicalcampaign, and it was then for the first timethat the well known sentence was inaugu-rated,—"*Now is the time for all good mento come to the aid of the party;” also theopening sentence of the Declaration of In-dependence, ““When in the course of humanevents,” etc., which sentences were repeat-ed many times in order to test the speed ofthe machine.
While some sources indicate that "Now is the time..." was used as an early typing exercise, Charles Weller in his book on the history of typewriters indicates it, along with the opening of the Declaration of Independence, was "repeated many times in order to test the speed of the [typewriter] machine.
I have been describing the actions of themachine in some of its worst moods. Butdon’t imagine for a moment that this was acontinuous affair. There were times wheneverything worked beautifully, and _ thespeed that could be gotten out of it at suchtimes was something marvelous, especiallywhen we got onto that familiar centence,“Now is the time for all good men to cometo the aid of the party.”
More recent typing books use a variant: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”. This version fills out a 70-space line if you count the period at the end.
General lore has it that Charles Weller used the phrase as a typing exercise in the early 1900s.
Then again, at times the little steel“dog” with its escapement working backand forth in the ratchet which controlledthe movement of the paper frame wouldfail to do its work properly, and the car-riage would jump an inch or two, or per-haps half a line, stopping with a suddenjerk, which was calculated to make onenervous, to say the least.
Apparently they were calling it a "dog" pretty early on...
Who originated, “Now is the time for all good men …” by [[Cecil Adams]] dated 1977-09-15 in The Straight Dope
https://typewriters.com/typewriters/nakajima
They still sell the new Nakajima typewriters (though possibly old stock).
How to package an antique/vintage typewriter for shipping <br /> by [[Tampa Typewriter Co.]]
Use elastic band to permanently engage the carriage release so it doesn't engage with the escapement and then cling wrap the carriage so it can't move. (Especially on models without a carriage lock.)
http://mytypewriter.com/eProducts/Ribbon_List_102806.pdf
A somewhat handy chart of typewriter ribbons by make and model. Will require some work to puzzle out the standards however.
http://mytypewriter.com/classic-typewriter-pad.aspx
MyTypewriter.com sells a 100% wool typewriter pad which they say is based on an original from the 1940s. It's 11.5" x 13" x 1/2".
A Typer’s Dozen: Richard Polt by Bill Guthrie
https://thetype.space/
Sales, service and repair of typewriters. Also has some parts access according to some.
https://www.tampatypewriter.com/<br /> Proprietor: Jack<br /> https://www.instagram.com/tampatypewriter/
Type Shop, Ep. 15: The Ultimate Keyring Toolset Guide by [[Typewriter Chicago]]
Charles Gu's new keyring pliers for about $500 for a set are as good as if not better than vintage tools. In particular the new rubber pieces seem to help protect from breaking the original glass key tops which will then require replacement.
http://mytypewriter.com/hello-qwerty-typewriter-keyring-pliers-kit.aspx
Charles Gu at MyTypewriter.com is selling new typewriter keyring pliers!
ᔥ[[Typewriter Chicago]] in Type Shop, Ep. 15: The Ultimate Keyring Toolset Guide at 2022-12-29<br /> (accessed:: 2024-07-08 08:23:36)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSy6XubgVIK/?img_index=1
I love the idea of hiding interesting visuals underneath the hood of a typewriter. This could be done with a variety of papers, decals, etc., but could also be done with custom printed fabric over felt to get the noise dampening.
Meagan Syata is the repair genius behind Unplug Typewriter Company https://www.etsy.com/shop/UnplugTypewriterCo/<br /> https://www.instagram.com/unplugtypewriterco/
Royal KMM typewriter - introduction & how to use by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]
A different sort of fix on the hammer and anvil of a Royal Quiet De Luxe by removing some of the shims on a QDLs Anvil.
Setting Up Shop! by [[Typewriter Chicago]]
Bill Guthrie <br /> http://typewritemosphere.com/ on YouTube:<br /> https://www.youtube.com/@VirtualGuth (via comment which links the accounts at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNcn_0SBFLM&lc=UgxkeZGozbmqC8uNHlV4AaABAg)
Is There a Typewriter Revival? by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Step-by-Step Tutorial: How to Use an Olympia SM4, SM3, or SM2 typewriter - Works for SM1 & SM5. by [[Mr and Mrs Vintage Typewriter]]
Royal QDL or Smith Corona 5 series? by [[JustMyTypewriter]]
Comparison of 1950s Royals and Smith-Coronas
Pacemaker Platen Removal?!???! by [[Just My Typewriter]]
https://www.tbwritersplus.com/general-8
You have to love that they have DIY services for typewriter repair enthusiasts!
Part 3: COMPLETE Olympia SM3 Service/Set Up Guide- Carriage Adjustments/ Ring and Cylinder by [[The HotRod Typewriter Co.]]
Not mentioned in the video is that, at least on his model, most of the common adjustment points have screws or nuts which have a brassy look rather than silvery almost as a means of highlighting them as subtle adjustment points for improving the performance of the machine.
Sometimes the carriage lock mechanism on the Olympia SM3 may not clear the carriage rail completely and this can result in it rubbing on the returns which results in a zipper or grinding sound. Forming the bar that connects the lever to the mechanism can quickly remedy this issue. See timestamp 2:17
This adjustment is rarely done unless there is something drastically wrong with the machine Details at timestamp
Adjustment on the carriage stoppers for how much bounce the carriage shift might have as well as how high or low the carriage sits at it's lowest point using the triangle sliding bracket on each side of the carriage with two screws. If these force the carriage too high, it can affect where the type sits in terms of potentially interfering with the bichrome settings to make letters (especially the tallest ones) have two colors when they should only have one. Details at timestamp 8:14
Adjustment on the rear springs for how light or heavy the carriage shift may be. Raise the spring and then adjust the small "nut" on the top. Details at timestamp 9:52
Ring and Cylinder adjustment for Olympia SM3<br /> Details at timestamp
Gerren doesn't seem to understand (or perhaps doesn't discuss it) some of the mechanics behind this adjustment beyond the distance of the platen to the typeface, but the usual suggestion is that the typeface shouldn't actually strike the paper and/or the platen. Ideally there should be just enough space between the typeface and the platen that an addition sheet of paper can be easily slid between the two along with the ribbon and another sheet of paper. This will allow the typeface to just kiss the ribbon and force the ink onto the front sheet of paper. Doing this will help to protect the integrity of the paper being typed on (ie, no deep imprints being pressed into the paper -- often seen with the period), as well as the integrity of the platen (preventing chips and imprints into the rubber, especially if it has been hardened), and the longer term integrity of the ribbon which can tend to be cut into by the typeface if it's too close.
From a physics perspective there is some minor amount of flex in the typebar arm between where the "hammer" at the bottom of the typebar hits the "anvil" (aka ring) and the top of the typeface which, when typing at speed will tend to "throw" the typeface a tad farther than it would hit when the hammer hits the anvil when simply holding it against the ring manually.
Part 2: COMPLETE Olympia SM3 Typewriter Service/repair- SO YOU WANT TO BE A MECHANICAL ENGINEER?!? by [[The HotRod Typewriter Co.]]
An excellent video in terms of coming to understand the functionality of a typewriter versus how the pieces interact to effectuate those functionalities.
COMPLETE Olympia SM1/2/3/4/5/7 Typewriter Build/Service/Tune up Series- Part 1 by [[The HotRod Typewriter Co.]]
Likely the key lockout isn't resetting like it's supposed to upon carriage return - the little part you mentioned. Cleaning and light oil on the friction and pivot points of that and the margin stop assembly usually can get things moving again. That's the most common issue I see in Royal Standards.
Advice by Nashville Typewriter at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1dwqi1r/friend_found_in_junk_pile/lbwege9/
Typewriter Video Series -- Episode 262: Olympia SG1 by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
https://www.facebook.com/groups/typewritermaintenance/permalink/2310899869147449/
Details for helping to remove the platen on an Olympia SG1
Tips for Removing and Installing Olympia SM3/SM4 spring loaded typewriter keys by [[The HotRod Typewriter Co.]]
Out with the Old, In with the New: Olympia SM by [[myoldtypewriter]]
They recommend fixing the Olympia SM3 spacer issue with:
Danco 1/2 rubber washer Universal (item #198804, model #88569) -- 00 trade size with 1/2" OD and 3/16" ID. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Danco-10-Pack-1-2-Rubber-Washer/3380002
The Amazing Floating Olympia by [[Michael P. Clemens]] aka clickthing
Michael recommends using 1/4" flat bibb washers with 9/16" OD to replace the rubber washers on the Olympia SM3, which notoriously are squished and need replacement. The general symptom is that the carriage sits low on the machine and scrapes or hangs on the sides of the body beneath it.
Ivan Yevenko 2nd degree connection 2nd building useful tools for hardware engineers @ globe.engineer
1964 NOMDA Blue Book: Olympia Font Styles
https://munk.org/typecast/2011/04/23/1964-nomda-blue-book-olympia-font-styles/
Discussed as part of "storytelling vs. logic" at FoTL
Adler, Mortimer J., and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book: The Classical Guide to Intelligent Reading. Revised and Updated edition. 1940. Reprint, Touchstone, 2011.
Edmund Gröpl's concept map of Adler & Van Doren's How to Read a Book via https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/20668#Comment_20668:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pking
pking - player killing
It can be useful to take some mineral spirits, naphtha, or paint thinner and a tooth brush (or, even better, a brass bristle brush) to your typeface every now and then to clean the ink, dirt, paper, bits of ribbon, dust, etc. out of it. Doing it after changing ribbon is always a good idea. If you're really hard pressed, nail polish remover (acetone) or rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball along with a small pin tip for the loops of letters like 'a', 'o', 'p', 'g', etc. can be used.
How well (or not) your typewriter works from a print perspective can also change with the type of paper you're using, what your ribbon is made out of (usually nylon, silk, or cotton), how much ink it's got in it and how old/worn it may be. A good backing sheet behind your typing paper can also be helpful.
reply to u/kirrachristine at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1dtuksy/one_letter_weirdly_thicksmudged/ RE: one letter weirdly thick/smudged
Kurutz, Steven. “Now You Can Read the Classics With A.I.-Powered Expert Guides.” The New York Times, June 13, 2024, sec. Style. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/style/now-you-can-read-the-classics-with-ai-powered-expert-guides.html.
Olympia SM3 & 9 Comparison by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
I'm two months in to my "writing a book entirely on a typewriter" projectI
I also don't just mean the script, but I mean every thing. The signatures and text block I'm also printing with my typewriter. Looking online before setting this I couldn't find much info or other people doing the same thing, so I feel like it's quite unique.
It's also insane. And I get why people aren't doing it. My book is a small collection of short stories and won't be too big. I have a friend who's a book binder that will bind the text block into a hardcover book. Very excited! Just wanted to share.
[...]
Oh no but I mean it's uncommon to make signatures and text blocks from typewriters. Like each copy of the book will be made from the typewriter.
Example of someone both writing and publishing a book entirely by typewriter.
Before You Buy a Typewriter … Six Top Things You Need to Know by [[CreateX3]]
Designer Marcelo Nizzoli designed the Lettera 22, 32, and Studio 44.
Considerations for buying a typewriter:
How to test a typewriter before buying by [[Retrotype]]
https://danallosso.substack.com/p/hypothesis-social-and-private-annotation-053
Fun to see Dan Allosso using Hypothes.is as a more social media-related application instead of just the social annotation tool as many are using this in academia. It requires some additional work, but the discovery functionality is fantastic.
[–]DistributionPure6051[S] comment score below threshold-14 points-13 points-12 points 2 days ago (8 children)Managed to grab it for $40. Don't know the model but I'm hoping to clean it up, replace the ribbon, and resell on eBay for a few bucks permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]chrisaldrichMy typewriter addiction is almost as bad as my card index one 7 points8 points9 points 2 days ago (1 child)If that's your intention, you'd have been much better off getting it for $5-10 to get some margin for your work. If that's your intention, you'd have been much better off getting it for $5-10 to get some margin for your work.formatting helphide helpcontent policysavecancelreddit uses a slightly-customized version of Markdown for formatting. See below for some basics, or check the commenting wiki page for more detailed help and solutions to common issues. you type:you see:*italics*italics**bold**bold[reddit!](https://reddit.com)reddit!* item 1* item 2* item 3item 1item 2item 3> quoted textquoted textLines starting with four spacesare treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"Lines starting with four spacesare treated like code:if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"~~strikethrough~~strikethroughsuper^scriptsuperscriptpermalinkembedsaveparenteditdisable inbox repliesare you sure? yes / nodeleteare you sure? yes / noreply[–]DistributionPure6051[S] comment score below threshold-5 points-4 points-3 points 2 days ago (0 children)They wouldn't go lower than $40 permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]Smubee 2 points3 points4 points 2 days ago (5 children)Don't do this. permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]DistributionPure6051[S] comment score below threshold-6 points-5 points-4 points 1 day ago (4 children)Explain permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]Neilgi 3 points4 points5 points 1 day ago* (3 children)Resellers kind of suck the life out of certain industries and make it difficult for hobbyists to get decent equipment. So long as you sell it for what it is WORTH and not upsell by 100%, then you perhaps aren't one of the bad guys. permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]DistributionPure6051[S] -4 points-3 points-2 points 1 day ago (2 children)I'll take a look at the model and see if I can find its actual worth considering its wear just to try and make a profit. If it ends up actually being $50, oh well, maybe I could send it to a theater or props department in the area permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]Smubee 1 point2 points3 points 1 day ago (1 child)This makes you an asshole. Don't buy shit just to make a profit. You're inflating a market unnecessarily. permalinkembedsaveparentreportreply[–]DistributionPure6051[S] -2 points-1 points0 points 1 day ago (0 children)Then I wasted $50 on a theater prop
Typically in this sub, when people ask, "Is it worth it?" the presumption is that they're buying it to use for themselves. You left out your context of buying it to sell until later. This means that once you've cleaned things up, and go to try to sell it for something above $40, people are going to show up here and ask that same question. When they do, the answer is going to be that it's far too expensive, especially with shipping which is notoriously tricky, expensive, and risky.
You'll be sitting there with a typewriter that you don't care enough about to have known anything about it or if it had any particular value. This also probably means that you don't know enough about what goes into cleaning and properly adjusting a typewriter either. If someone is a sucker enough to pay the crazy mark up, it means that someone who wants to try out a typewriter will be buying a sub-par machine and have a sub-par experience.
unposted reply to u/DistributionPure6051 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1dqr02l/is_this_worth_it/<br /> (Most of context is hiding because of downvoting)
reply to u/virtualellie at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1ds1aps/typewriter_suggestions_for_newbie/
aggregated links from prior notes:
I'd generally endorse most of the advice on models you'll find in these sources which are geared specifically toward writers, all three sources have lots experience and reasonable bona fides to make such recommendations.
Obviously, you'll want to steer towards the smaller portables in the lists, but most of what's represented should fit your criteria. You'll notice a lot of overlap but with different positioning, so there's obviously some personal preference at play. If there's a nearby shop to you, it may be worth driving over to try out the touch and feel of some machines to see which you like best. Try https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html
There was also some sage advice from u/Thylacine33 about purchasing the other day which may be helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1drj32h/comment/lawb2h7/
Beyond this Just My Typewriter has a few short videos that'll give you a crash course on Typewriter 101: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtHauPh529XYHI5QNj5w9PUdi89pOXsS
FINE LINE RIBBON MANUFACTURER OF INKED RIBBONS FOR TYPEWRITERS, CALCULATORS, CASH REGISTERS, POS , ATM AND TIME CLOCKS. CONTACT: 972-875-8681 800-527-0354 theresa@finelineribbon.net 2405 N. PRESTON ST. ENNIS, TX 75119
Found via https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-faq.html#q1
Fine Line Ribbon in Ennis, TX, (972) 878-8683,
Ruben Flores likes them for his bulk ribbon
Family Typewriter Repair Business Forced to Relocate After Rent Increase by [[Nic Cha Kim]] for Spectrum News 1 on 2019-04-16
Highland Park repair shop enjoys a typewriter revival by [[The Eastsider]]
Only portable and ultra-portables
List: 1. Hermes 3000 (Switzerland) (pre-1965 curved models; square tops are good, though slightly less solid; later plastic frames aren't durable at all) 2. Olympia SM9, SM8 & Monica (Especially pre-1970s) SM8 has tabs on the back. the SM9 are by the spacebars. Best SM9s are green shift keys and knobs.<br /> 3. Olivetti Lettera 32, Lettera DL (Italian better than Spanish) Mexico, Brazil and other countries are lower quality materials<br /> 4. Olympia SM3, SM4, SM2<br /> 5. Imperial Good Companion Model 1<br /> 6. Smith-Corona Super, Silent Super (Series 5); pre-war flat tops too<br /> 7. Olivetti Lettera 22<br /> 8. Brother De Luxe; Brother 200, 210, 220 (no repeat spacers; prefer metal frames) 9. Olympia Traveller de Luxe S (German; not Eastern Europe which were weaker); Olympia Splendid 33, 66, 99<br /> 10. Adler Tippa; Adler Tippa S; Triumph Tippa
Also rans: <br /> - Underwood 3 bank<br /> - Royal P<br /> - Hermes 2000<br /> - Remington Quiet DeLuxe<br /> - Remington Victor S or T<br /> - Hermes Baby (metal frame)<br /> - Halda and Erika M.
I tested more than 300 typewriter models & here're the TOP 10. by [[Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters]]
This typewriter repairman was told computers were king. Twenty years later, he’s still in business by [[Matthew Ormseth]] on 2019-02-06 for Los Angeles Times
The classic account of industrialisation was David Landes’s The Unbound Prometheus (1969), which argued that economic transformation was rooted in three crucial substitutions: of ‘machines ... for human skill and effort’, of ‘inanimate for animate sources of power’, and of ‘mineral for vegetable or animal substances’ as raw materials.
The ‘industrial revolution’ is often understood imprecisely and expansively, encompassing anything and everything from mechanisation and the development of the factory system to the division of labour and the shift of employment from agriculture to manufacturing, as well as commercial and financial innovations, the take-off of economic growth and the development of capitalism itself.
some variations of the definition of "Industrial Revolution"
one must naturally be more careful in how one defines, treats, and uses the phrase which can bind together a great many things, particularly in non-technical contexts.
In 1880 Britain could with some justification be called the ‘workshop of the world’: it produced more than 20 per cent of global industrial output and about 40 per cent of the world’s manufactured exports. In the nearly half-century since Samuel published his essay of that name, historians have done much to undermine the narrative of an ‘industrial revolution’ bookended by the invention of the spinning jenny in 1764 and the New Poor Law of 1834.
There's an interesting linkage going on here between the industrial revolution (and thus possibly Capitalism) with the creation and even litigation of "the poor" classes in Britain.
Did "the poor" exist in the same way they do today prior to the Industrial Revolution? What are the subtle differences? (Compare with Thompson, E. P. “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism.” Past & Present, no. 38 (1967): 56–97.)
As a ‘form of inquiry’, Samuel wrote in the LRB of 14 June 1990, history is a ‘journey into the unknown’.
Oral tradition, too, entangled national identity and religion.
I can't help but wonder how this is currently working in the deep South with respect to political identity (far right, Trump, MAGA) and religious identity (born again, ultra-nationalist Christians, etc.)
The social investigator Charles Booth thought they were ‘lenient judges of the frailties that are not sins, and of the disorder that is not crime’.
Samuel observes that it was in studying the social and economic history of poaching that oral sources proved most revelatory. His interviews showed that the relatively small number of poachers who appeared in court records in the late 19th century were not the most prolific but the worst at getting away with it. In the years before the Great War, poaching was organised and knitted into the local economy and seasonal patterns of labour. Gangs of poachers took orders, traded door to door, and sold on to fences who supplied butchers in Oxford’s covered market. A retired practitioner, a longtime antagonist of the local gamekeepers, trained lurchers for the gangs. Amateurs, in it perhaps partly for the thrill, were not considered ‘real’ poachers by the pros.
Samuel joined the party as soon as he was old enough, but left as part of the mass exodus prompted by Khrushchev’s secret speech and the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian uprising in 1956.
Despite – or perhaps because of – all this activity, Samuel only published one sole-authored book in his lifetime, Theatres of Memory (1994), an account of the popular historical imagination in late 20th-century Britain told via case studies, from Laura Ashley fabrics to the touristification of Ironbridge. Since his death from cancer in 1996, however, Samuel has been prolific. A second volume of Theatres of Memory, titled Island Stories: Unravelling Britain, came out in 1998, followed in 2006 by The Lost World of British Communism, a volume of essays combining research and recollections.
Theatres of Memory (1994) sounds like it's taking lots of examples from a zettelkasten and tying them together.
It's also interesting to note that he published several books posthumously. Was this accomplished in part due to his zettelkasten notes the way others like Ludwig Wittgenstein?
In 1967, Samuel founded the History Workshop movement
"History Workshop movement" here (https://hypothes.is/a/pzSbkDSWEe-GVmsfDdhvrg) is another good example of the serendipity of autocomplete functionality in Hypothes.is helping to link together disparate examples of ideas which I'd long since forgotten. In this case to a tangential idea I'd read about a year prior (https://hypothes.is/a/bxMX5MKJEe2Wkq_zinG3iw) and been interested in, but completely forgotten about.
Now I've got a link from that to the founder of the movement in 1967.
In 1967, Samuel founded the History Workshop movement to democratise ‘the act of historical production, enlarging the constituency of historical writers, and bringing the experience of the present to bear upon the interpretation of the past’; it held huge, radical and ecumenical events, published pamphlets and books, and in 1976 founded its own journal, still running today.
Each thought or reference to a source was written or pasted onto a single side of a loose sheet of paper. It might be the source itself – an advertisement, a jam-jar label or an extract from a Xerox – it mattered only that it was attributed and subheaded under a theme. Then the notes were filed in groups. Scholarly prestidigitation allowed the pages to be constantly reshuffled so that new combinations of ideas appeared, presuppositions might be overturned and surprising connections thereby generated ... All that was needed was reams of rough paper, scissors and a pot of glue, phalanxes of lever-arch files, and a hole-puncher.
brief outline of Raphael Samuel's note taking tools and some scant description of the method.
I love the phrase "scholarly prestiditation" to describe the "magic of note taking" along with the idea of combinatorial creativity.
Presumably the quote comes from the Samuel piece quoted in the article.
Raphael Samuel adopted his notetaking method from Beatrice and Sidney Webb
Historian Raphael Samuel used a zettelkasten-like note taking method which he adopted from Beatrice and Sidney Webb.
Joe Van Cleave makes the interesting observation that while a hobbyist will only take a typewriter apart as much as is necessary to fix the issue at hand, the professional repair person will strip it all down and clean everything out for the coming 50 years to prevent it from coming back to them for something else in the near future thus costing more time, effort, and potential damage to their reputation.
Typewriter Line Lock Repair by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Repairing Bent Typewriter Key Lever by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
SHOP TALK!! adjusting type alignment for Torpedo portable typewriters by [[Typewriter Justice]]
reply to u/Rabbits16 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1df7o2t/request_type_writer_suggestion_please/
For that budget range, pick up something cleaned and fully serviced from a nearby shop https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html
Too many resellers are pushing overpriced machines that say "works" or "may need servicing" on some online shops like ebay or Etsy for top end pricing when you can get something truly spectacular and ready for the next 50 years from a serious pro that needs the support for the same price.
As for particular machines to look at, I can't find much to fault in Joe's advice here https://youtu.be/aKMt-aCHZZk?si=CGPduwA4A3HPDm3u
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TypewriterDecalShop
Run by Paul Robert
What Obsidian gurus get wrong about Zettelkasten by [[Tony Ramella]]
generally meh... nothing I don't already know
I do like his focus on simplicity.
Why can Luhmann manage information better than those who typing on obsidian?
Too many people fetishize Luhmann and his system. Yes he wrote a lot and yes he was productive, but was he as influential as any of the thousands upon thousands of writers and academics who used broadly similar methods? A lot of Luhmann's productivity boils down to how one chooses to define productivity. As an example: Isaac Newton, John Locke, Taylor Swift, and even Eminem had broadly similar not taking methods and though their note corpuses are dramatically smaller than Luhmann, their influence on art, culture, and humanity dramatically exceeds that of Luhmann.
I would posit that most serious note takers' productivity boils down to their utter simplicity and easy ability to replicate that method for decades. The largest part of Luhmann's productivity was that he not only had a simple system, but that he was privileged to use and practice at full time for the length of his academic career. (He also didn't face the scourge of peer-review that most academics are forced to run today.)
As an example of someone whose methods were very similar to Luhmann's, but who was dramatically more productive (from a generic definition of it), take a look at S. D. Goitein who wrote out about 1/3 the number of slips that Luhmann did, but used them to write almost a 1/3 more articles and books! Luhmann: 90,000 slips, 550 articles, 50 books versus Goitein: 27,000 slips, 669 articles, 69 books. Interestingly Goitein's method of organization was much closer to the topical organization to the vast majority of zettelkasten/card index users (as well as Obsidian users) than to Luhmann's alpha-numeric organizational method. There isn't nearly enough scale in (psychology, cognitive psychology) research to reasonably compare analog versus digital methods, much less enough research to distinguish between methods at the scale of individual people. Everyone will respond differently to different modalities because the breadth of neurodiversity within the population. The psychology research you're citing is painfully, painfully thin and is far from reaching the level of replicability. As a result, the best practicable advice to any individual is to experiment for themselves and choose the method they feel works best for them from a sustainability perspective.
reply to u/Quack_quack_22 at https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/1doqgar/why_can_luhmann_manage_information_better_than/
I found that Luhmann's information management system is not more complicated, but it is more effective than the influencers talking about taking notes on Obsidian. Because he took notes by hand:
Studies show that taking notes by hand has a positive impact on many different brain areas. Writing by hand is slower than typing: The slowness of handwriting helps Luhmann consider and select important words to write in literature notes. -> he will remember better the brain is relaxed -> the brain is more creative: when writing literature notes -> he will come up with more ideas so he can write permanent notes. To put it more simply. Luhmann takes notes to find as many ideas as possible to write in permanent notes, then these permanent notes will become a complete essay after Luhmann connects them together. And writing citations, summaries of content and citing sources in literature are just proof that his ideas are correct (ironically, people who make content about obsidian (also Tiago Forte) just encourage copy-paste).
Thus, copying highlights from Kindle to Obsidian becomes useless if you don't understand anything about highlights and don't get any ideas from them. I don't claim that typing makes us stupid, because people who write on computers have a habit of carefully correcting spelling and arguments, which helps them think more deeply = more smart.
Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nancyolson/2016/05/15/three-ways-that-writing-with-a-pen-positively-affects-your-brain/ https://www.psychiatrist.com/news/handwriting-shows-unexpected-benefits-over-typing/
P/s: I think this guy is very precise about the zettelkasten method: he takes notes on paper like Luhmann to get ideas, then he just starts copying them into Obsidian. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrvKHFIHaeQ&t=0s)
Subtle differences between the two models.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwMhC_klUByVGdnTTIFP6XmVdLPYwW3mC
Joe Van Cleave typewriter maintenance and repair playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtHauPh529XYHI5QNj5w9PUdi89pOXsS
Typewriter 101
Five Fairly Fun Fixes For Free by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Advice for typewriter ribbon printing, especially as silk ribbons age and more quickly gunk up the loops or letters like "e" or "a". Nylon ribbon and a thin plastic backing sheet can be helpfu.
Use of bookbinder's glue on fabric of typewriter cases, then layers of shoe polish.
General advice for replacing feet on typewriter cases.
Small incremental improvements to your typewriter can be easier and more sustainable than trying to do everything at once.
Smith-Corona 5-Series Touch Adjustment by [[Joe Van Cleave]]
Royal Model "O" Typewriter Adjust Ribbon Lift for each Type Bar Lever, Works on Quite Deluxe too. by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]
Forming individual type bars, particularly for capital letters to get the tops to print evenly when they're more faint than other similar typefaces.
Royal QDL Quiet Deluxe Typewriter, Left Margin Stop, Alignment Adjustment, Repaired uneven edge by [[Phoenix Typewriter]]
How to adjust the margin stops on a Royal Quiet De Luxe and related portable models.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldwych
Aldwych cognate with Aldrich?
I dont know if im hitting too hard or not. ( second image is the backup paper behind the actual one)
If you've got heavy impressions going to the level of the backing sheet or things like your period cutting holes directly through your paper, then it's not really so much an issue of typing too hard, but your carriage is slightly out of alignment with respect to your type bars.
Your typeface shouldn't actually hit the platen when pressed (or held forward), but should just kiss the ribbon which then places the imprint onto the paper. Holding your typeslug forward against the type guide you should have just enough space to slip a piece of paper between your slug and the platen. If there isn't a tiny bit of space, your typeface will chew up your ribbon and paper over time. The typing thunk sound that typewriters make isn't the slug hitting the platen (aka cylinder), but the typebar hitting the anvil (aka ring).
The proper adjustment for fixing this is thus commonly called a ring and cylinder adjustment and how it's effected depends on whether you have a segment shift or a carriage shift machine. On many machines it requires adjusting two screws on either side of the machine. It changes the distance of platen from typeface and can prevent your making holes in the paper and/or ribbon, which isn't good. Sometimes using a simple backing sheet can remedy a bit of this distance problem, especially on platens which have hardened or shrunk slightly over time. Searching YouTube for your make/model (or similar models) will usually show you the adjustment you'll need to make to remedy these problems.
See also: https://hypothes.is/a/AegRziHnEe-Ud_stVcPQLA
Reply to u/Bitter_Rent_141 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1dnnh2n/is_this_normal/
(1962) Pale Fire
Based on the 1962 publication date of Pale Fire, it's a leading contender for the project Nabokov might have been working on during his photo session with Carl Mydans for LIFE Magazine in 1958.
How A Rusty 1930s Royal Typewriter Is Professionally Restored | Refurbished | Insider
Done by Lucas Dul. Some particularly interesting portions on adjustments after restoration. He generally touches on the order of adjustments he makes, but in brief rather than completely.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5779r6dp/entire_text/
Estate of Carl Mydans Photography Collection<br /> Stanford University
https://aspace.wustl.edu/repositories/6/resources/242
Vladimir Nabokov Papers, Washington University Libraries, Department of Special Collections
Pg… 61 Nabokov: Master of Versatility: The Author of Lolita is an Expert at Languages, Chess and Lepidoptera
LIFE Magazine November 20, 1964<br /> Show of Toughness in Moscow
https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/nabokov.jpeg via https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html
This photo, similar to others in the Carl Mydans series for LIFE Magazine is surely from his September 1958 photo series, though I couldn't find an original from the LIFE archive.
Nabokov, reading off of index cards in his zettelkasten, dictates to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
Notice metal strip on the back of the typewriter with small rectangular blocks. This is the Royal's tabulator set up which distinguishes the Quiet De Luxe model from the Arrow model.
The body styling of this typewriter changed in 1950 from Dreyfuss' original 1948 design. Because it's light gray it has to be from '49 or '50 as the '48 original was a black body with dark gray highlights and didn't have chrome across the front as this one does in an alternate angle.
https://images.google.com/hosted/life/2bff56953d14c9d9.html
Nabokov, reflected in a mirror off camera, dictating his writing from index cards to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
Notice the chrome on the front of the machine which is sitting in its bottom case shell.
https://images.google.com/hosted/life/c835f121c2b6ce79.html
Nabokov dictating his writing from index cards to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
https://images.google.com/hosted/life/8d0b2f02ac27973e.html
Nabokov dictating his writing from index cards to his wife Vera who is typing on what appears to be a 1949 or 1950 Henry Dreyfuss Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter.
https://typewriterchicago.com/
Run by Lucas Dul
Links to Typeface Resources- Olympia- https://munk.org/typecast/2011/04/23/... Royal- https://munk.org/typecast/2011/04/24/... Smith Corona- https://munk.org/typecast/2020/06/15/... Adler- https://munk.org/typecast/2023/02/04/... Story of vertical script- https://munk.org/typecast/2022/02/26/... Typewriter Database Typefaces- https://typewriterdatabase.com/typefa... Typographica.org- https://typographica.org/on-typograph... Type Slug Specs- https://munk.org/typecast/2023/02/05/...
Typewriter 101: The ULTIMATE TYPEFACE Guide (ft. Typewriter Chicago) by [[Just My Typewriter]]
featuring Typewriter Chicago's Lucas Dul
James Norris is the owner and operator of Ex Nihilo 3D Print and Design in Spring, Texas. He has always had a fascination with figuring out how things work and seeing if there was a way it could be better. In late 2016 his wife, a burgeoning writer, purchased their first typewriter. He soon became obsessed with all the amazing parts and mechanisms. From there the typewriter collecting began.From the first Olympia, to an inherited Olivetti, to his first Selectric, and so on.While repairing these machines he realized that there where a few setbacks. The most immediate being parts availability. So armed with his 3d printer he designed and printed his first part. A Selectric cycle clutch pulley in mid 2021. After showing the 3d printed part to some like minded individuals he was happy to learn that they were as excited as he was. He loves to design new parts and accessories to bring these typewriters back to life.James is thrilled to be working with Philly Typewriter, and looks forward to helping with your current and future parts needs. James lives in Texas, is married with two children.
https://www.phillytypewriter.com/parts-mfg.html#/
James Norris does 3D printing of replacement parts for typewriter restoration projects.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1335701
The typewriter used on Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Landsbury, was a black Royal standard, probably a 1940s KMM.
The benefits of using a typewriter to write novels and poetry. by [[Classic Typewriter]]
Good Remington Portable Typewriters, Bad Remington Portable Typewriters by [[Robert Messenger]]
The Remington Graduate and Torpedo 900 are (good) variations/rebrandings of the Remington Ten Forty.
Good Remington Ten Fortys weight over 5kg and the bad are 4.6kg.
Sundberg’s first typewriter design was for IBM in 1955. This was for what we generally call the IBM Executive (Model C/Model 41);
If Sundberg's first design was for IBM in 1955, how is he influential to Dreyfuss' 1948 typewriter design for Royal?
Carl Sundberg’s European-made Remington Portable Typewriters by [[Robert Messenger]]
Greenwich Land Trust to Host Firefly and Pollinator Pathway Presentation by [[Greenwich Sentinel]]
The other Christopher J. Aldrich lives in/near Greenwich, CT
Luhmann uses his joker card as an example of the fact that every autonomous system must contain its own negation. (This may be a reference to Hegel's dialectic, where the developmemt of thought is based on the negation within the system.) So we have a German professor who has built a disciplined note taking system in which each card has its precise address. Except for the joker, which negates all other notecards, moves freely within the system and cannot be found.
I've always wondered if Luhmann's jokerzettel was inspired by Claude Shannon's Ultimate Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5rJJgt_5mg
Luhmann couldn't have worked in systems theory and information for so long without being intimately familiar with Shannon's work. There's direct evidence that he read at least his seminal work: https://niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/literatur/item/shannon_weaver_1949_communication
While we're on about the "Cargo Cult of Zettelkasten" and Claude Shannon, his short essay "The Bandwagon" is an infamous article he wrote about the cargo cult of information theory applications in 1956.
Shannon, Claude Elwood. “The Bandwagon.” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 2, no. 1 (March 1956): 3. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIT.1956.1056774. .pdf copy at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=1056774
Finally, too many Zettelkasten adherents of the Luhmann-artig sort seem to want to forget that Luhmann's system was far from new and that thousands upon thousands had used similar systems for several hundreds of years before him. Many thousands of them also wrote huge amounts of material, many of them producing work far more consequential than anything Luhman wrote.
reply to u/taurusnoises and u/Filion_Alexandrian at I've always wondered if Luhmann's jokerzettel was inspired by Claude Shannon's Ultimate Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5rJJgt_5mg
Luhmann couldn't have worked in systems theory and information for so long without being intimately familiar with Shannon's work. There's direct evidence that he read at least his seminal work: https://niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/literatur/item/shannon_weaver_1949_communication
While we're on about the "Cargo Cult of Zettelkasten" and Claude Shannon, his short essay "The Bandwagon" is an infamous article he wrote about the cargo cult of information theory applications in 1956.
Shannon, Claude Elwood. “The Bandwagon.” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 2, no. 1 (March 1956): 3. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIT.1956.1056774. .pdf copy at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=1056774
Finally, too many Zettelkasten adherents of the Luhmann-artig sort seem to want to forget that Luhmann's system was far from new and that thousands upon thousands had used similar systems for several hundreds of years before him. Many thousands of them also wrote huge amounts of material, many of them producing work far more consequential than anything Luhman wrote.
Claude Shannon Ultimate Machine
Could this be the end result of artificial intelligence?
cross reference: - Niklas Luhmann's jokerzettel - War Games (1983) and "Joshua" (WOPR)
https://niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/literatur/item/shannon_weaver_1949_communication
Overlap of Claude Shannon and Niklas Luhmann
This might be a weird question, but does anyone keep memes in your ZK? I'm realizing I download a lot of memes that I particularly appreciate -- but then I usually can't fnd them again if I want them. Anyone have a method for this?
I only have a few very specific memes indexed in my box: https://boffosocko.com/tag/zettelkasten-memes/ and a few more at https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=zettelkasten+meme
Historically, Aby Warburg had a large image-based zettelkasten for his work on art which predated Richard Dawkins' conception of meme, but I think qualifies. See: https://boffosocko.com/tag/aby-warburg/ or his Bilderatlas Mnemosyne project: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/archive/bilderatlas-mnemosyne
It's digital in nature, but Shawn Gilmore has a large collection of images of string walls, Anacapa charts, walls and floors littered with paperwork by obsessives, etc. for his cultural research. It also includes some popular memes. https://www.vaultofculture.com/nst
replyy to u/a2jc4life at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/1ddhn9n/memes/
Success histories? 4 years into Zettelkasten and not being fruitful
Let's turn your question around: What exactly are you hoping to get out of it for yourself? Do you have specific goals for your own use?
You may like the idea of having and using a hammer, but if you don't have a project that requires a hammer, then owning and trying to hammer on random things in an unfocused way is probably not the right tool for your needs.
reply to u/arealnamestakenreal at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/1dko10r/success_histories_4_years_into_zettelkasten_and/
Skyriter
These have been selling at auction sites over the past several months for $45-$75 plus shipping based only on pictures and without any information at all about their working condition, so all-in you probably got a great deal. I'm just finishing up work on cleaning up a 1951 2Y series Skyriter myself, and I really like its typing action. Don't throw away the spools if it came with them as they're non-standard and slightly smaller than the ubiquitous universal spools. This being said you can buy the standard 1/2" ribbon and manually spool new ribbon onto your existing spools. Mine didn't have spools at all, but I found some replacements (with ribbon) at https://www.ribbonsunlimited.com/. Take note that it's not a bichrome machine, so you can buy a single color ribbon.
There are two screws that hold the chassis of these into the bottom of their case. They're hiding just underneath the carriage. Once removed, the typewriter lifts back and up and out of the base. You'll find the serial number on the right hand side of the frame underneath the platen and can use it to date your machine with the database: https://typewriterdatabase.com/smithcorona.86.typewriter-serial-number-database. Based on appearance alone, I'd place it as a 1960 3Y series based on the color, the badging and the white keys. You can look at others' individual models and notes at https://typewriterdatabase.com/Smith+Corona.Skyriter.86.bmys. If I'm right about the date, Richard Polt has online manuals available for the 1960 as well as others at: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-manuals.html.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjumGF9NFE8 is a pretty solid cleaning primer. Searching YouTube will uncover some potential additional advice in addition to what you can find at https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-restoration.html or in his book. I will say that in cleaning mine, the mineral spirits dissolved the glue holding the felt on underneath the typebars, but it was in terrible shape anyway and needed replacing. The foam strip underneath that felt came out unscathed without much effort on my part to be careful with it.
Most of the mechanics are pretty basic and easy to clean/service. Unless there's something dramatically wrong with it, you could very likely clean and service it yourself. (As an example, I had to re-slot the mechanism for the margin release which was almost too easy.) Even the mid-level repair issues for it can be easily found on YouTube if you're handy with a screwdriver (Joe Van Cleave and Phoenix Typewriter in particular have several model specific videos on the Skyriter). The platen and rollers come out fairly easy with a small screwdriver and removing one half of a spring on the back of the paper tray. This gives you great access to clean the escapement from above as well as to potentially send them off to JJ Short Associates for replacement via https://www.jjshort.com/typewriter-platen-repair.php. If you're less handy, Polt's website has a list of repair shops around the world that could clean/repair it for you.
Good luck with it. I hope you like yours as much as I like mine. They're one of the most solid and sought after ultra-portables out there.
Known fizzled by [[Ben Werdmuller]]
A Tale of Two Toy Typewriters..... by [[Just My Typewriter]]
The Marx Dial Typewriter (and the Trouble with Patents) by Our Own Devices
What enabled these high aspirations in the 1940s?
also, what impact did these programs in the late 40s and early 50s have on subsequent events in the 60s and 70s as these cohorts continued to age?
In Chicago, one catalyst for that growth—as a kind of public sym-bol and tacit approval from the business community—was “the FatMan’s Class,” which had begun meeting in 1942–1943 at Chicago’sUniversity Club. The moniker derived, according to some, from thegroup’s “affluence rather than the girth of its members.” Membersof this class included Chicago notables such as Harold and CharlesSwift, Marshall Field, Jr., Walter Paepcke, Hermon Dunlap Smith,William Benton, Hughston McBain (president of Marshall Field andCompany), and Laird Bell. This group caught the “fancy” of thepopulace, causing the University of Chicago’s University College topartner with the Chicago Public Library in 1944 to set up great bookscourses around the city.43
An anonymous review in The Atlantic touched on the samesnobbish fear addressed by Barzun:Mr. Adler’s notion that “almost all of the great books in every fieldare within the grasp of all normally intelligent men” seems to usto need a deal of sifting. We do not know what he means by “nor-mally intelligent,” but if he means the average run of intelligencein our population, or in the student body of our schools and col-leges, we believe he is deplorably wrong. So also . . . the book’s sub-title, “The Art of Getting a Liberal Education,” savors strongly ofquackery. 39
Compare this with the ideas of intelligence and eugenics of the time as well as that of class in Isenberg's White Trash.
Presumably this anonymous author would have been seeing things from a more dominant eugenics viewpoint at this time period of 1940.
See also: The Eugenics War (American Experience) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/eugenics-crusade/
McNeill does not specify whether he believed thatcontent or process was more important.
I can't help of thinking about the debate on nature vs. nurture here. How might we extend it to the idea of content vs. process with respect to cultural anthropology.
How does a culture vary based on the content they use and produce with respect to the process by which they transmit and use that same content?
In colonialized cultures the process has been bastardized which then leads to changes in the content as well. Ultimately both switch and are changed from their original. How could a culture hold onto their past which makes it the culture that it was?
There's some fun stuff going on at these junctures.
Dr. Harry McNeill’s June 1940 assessment in Interracial Review
Interesting commentary here on conversion of African-Americans to Catholicism as well as self-help nature of reading for improvement. Analogizes African-Americans without Catholicism to Mortimer J. Adler as a Jew.
Possible tone of colonialism to assimilate African-Americans into Western Culture here? Though still somehow some space for movement and growth.
acques Barzun, “Review of How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler,”Saturday Review (March 9, 1940): 6–7; Adler, Philosopher at Large, 67.
available at: https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1940mar09-00006/
Barzun, Jacques. "Read, Do Not Run" Review of How to Read a Book, by Mortimer J. Adler. The Saturday Review, March 9, 1940.
To extend thisa bit using a term not present in Barzun’s review, the lesson was thateven if by superior reading skills “culture” became attainable by all,uniform conclusions by enlightened readers would not necessarilyresult.35 A democratic culture did not mean homogeneity necessarily,nor conformity.
How does culture tie us all together? Does shared culture necessarily mean a regression to some mean?
Compare this with the cultural pressure of religious identity in America which does seem to press toward a particular way of thinking, living, and being.
After publication in February 1940, How to Read a Book propelledAdler to the forefront of the Great Books Movement and into a posi-tion now referred to as a “public intellectual.”
After graduation Fadiman engaged in various book-related ven-tures. He served as “top editor” for Simon and Schuster’s fledglingpublishing house until 1933, and then as The New Yorker’s book edi-tor for the next ten years. He acquired his greatest name recognition,however, by hosting the Information, Please! radio program, whichbegan in 1938. Fadiman’s work with the Book-of-the-Month Club hasbeen ably traced by historians. Beginning with his appointment toits board in 1944, Fadiman would serve as a senior judge for over 50years. At Adler’s behest his relationship with Britannica began in the1940s, deepened in the 1950s, and lasted through the 1990s. 20
How to Read a Book providedrules for reading. The rules constituted the book’s heart: (1) readingfrom the whole to the parts, designated as the “structural or analyticreading”; (2) reading from parts to the whole, or an “interpretive orsynthetic” reading; and (3) deciding to agree or disagree, the “criticalor evaluative” reading.
An interesting synopsis of the rules of reading from Adler's text.
Philip Gleason, who has written on the history of Catholichigher education, argued that neoscholasticism formed the “centralelement” in a 1930s Catholic revival.
A great deal of descriptive and analytical scholarship exists on thecontroversy, known as “The Chicago Fight,” that surrounded the cur-ricular changes proposed and implemented by Hutchins and Adler atthe University of Chicago.
Hutchins compiled those ideas in a few books, most nota-bly Higher Learning in America (1936).
The School of the People’s Institute,
A forest of evergreen notes by Richard
See also comments at cross-posting at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/1d69inw/a_forest_of_evergreen_notes/
Removing rust from typewriters
Steel wool can be useful for removing rust from keylevers and other parts on typewriters, but can leave dust/slag behind which can be a bear to clean up especially when used on typebars.
De-rusters like Evaporust can be useful, but should be tested against causing harm to other parts of a machine. Some rust removal chemicals can strip galvanization from machine parts. Olympia typewriters in particular are infamous for galvanized steel parts.
Another option can be to use a rotary tool (like a Dremel) with a wire brush head to remove rust.
Take care and be sure to use proper eye protection against dirt, dust, and chemicals when doing this sort of work. Also make sure you have proper ventilation and/or a mask to avoid breathing in dust and toxic chemicals.
Richard Polt's site has additional resources for typewriter restoration: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-restoration.html
Reply to https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1da2zg6/how_do_i_remove_rust/
Hahaha you’re going to have to start slipping the UPS guy a $20 to keep it on the hush hush. “Don’t worry honey, I am getting them to fix up and sell”
reply to u/baxter1207 at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1da0voq/repairsclean_ups/l7jg8nl/
I'm pretty sure those exact words have escaped my lips...
Her: "I know you've got five typewriters already, and I'm not counting the one I know you're hiding underneath the bed. Which ones are you going to sell??"
Me (in my head): Where am I going to stash the 12th machine when it arrives later today? At least it's an ultraportable, so it won't take up as much space. Why is my least favorite machine that I want to sell her favorite machine? Will selling it upset the delicate typewriter balance in the house? I can always say that the typewriter coming on Tuesday is a parts machine that I'm using to repair two of the others so I can sell them. Is this how all typewriter repair shops began?
Me: I'm trying to finish up refinishing the two executive tanker desks and the filing cabinet in the garage first so I can get them out and make some space.
😁
Not sure if it may help your Typewriter Typefaces Bible project or not, but I'll mention that Marcin Wichary used the Internet Archive to collect a lot of the materials for his massive 3 volume 2023 book "Shift Happens: A Book About Keyboards": https://archive.org/details/wicharytypewriter
In addition to lots of material which he found and collected on the Archive, he added a huge number of resources, catalogs, and books which are either rare or incredibly difficult to find by uploading them to the Archive for others to potentially find and use. You and others may find it valuable and or useful to follow his pattern of uploading and storage there.
1954 Smith-Corona (SCM) Typewriter Type Styles and Keyboards Catalog – To Type, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth… by [[Theodore Munk]]
Smith-Corona (SCM) Font Styles – To Type, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth… by [[Theodore Munk]]
You should not have much trouble finding a cubist (aka techno, square, robotic, futuristic, etc.) font or even Vogue; but good luck finding an italic. Of course, if you want to use them instead of collecting typewriters, get an IBM Selectric and a collection of balls.
colloquial advice
Swiss-made Hermes (3000, Media 3) seems to top the list of the most sought after vintage manuals with script fontAnother popular choice among collectors is the script typewriter debuted by Olivetti Lettera in 1963.Other typewriter manufacturers that offered the script font were Olympia (SM3, SM7, SM8), Adler (Tippa, J4, J5), Royal (Safari, Sahara), Remington (Deluxe 5, Personal Riter), Smith-Corona (Classic 12, Sterling 5A, Galaxie Deluxe 10, Galaxie 11, Galaxie 12, Silent Super), Torpedo 18, Blickensderfer (with cylinder) and IBM (Selectric with typeball)
unreferenced here, so treat as colloquial
A field guide to hunting down script typewriters. by [[May Tobias-Papa]]
https://illuminate.withgoogle.com/
via
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Interesting experiment from Google that creates an NPR-like discussion about any academic paper.<br><br>It definitely suggests some cool possibilities for science communication. And the voices, pauses, and breaths really scream public radio. Listen to at least the first 30 seconds. pic.twitter.com/r4ScqenF1d
— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) June 1, 2024
I don't see the relevance of @chrisaldrich's mention of how "people are slowly adding small atomic pieces of information" to Wikipedia: that is about text editing, not about text structure and purpose. People do the same with any document in Google Docs, for example!
@Andy
Perhaps Wikipedia's underlying zettelkasten nature is hiding in the more narrative nature of the ultimate pages, but it's definitely there. The "standard" web user interface view of Wikipedia pages makes it less obvious that the added pieces are atomic in nature, and that Wikipedia in fact is a group zettelkasten being built in the public/commons. However, if you've customized your own specific view of Wikipedia; are using an Atom Subscription (and yes, it's actually called this!); watching recent changes; or are using the history functionality (example: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zettelkasten&action=history), then you're getting closer to the sorts of views of atomic additions I was speaking of. Some of this is also the reason that there is a checkbox for "minor edits" to take account of typos and minutiae which are sub-atomic and filters out or cleans up the stream of the updates one could receive.
Viewed from this perspective, Wikipedia is a distributed zettelkasten of the highest order. Intellectually all this traces back to the original zettelkasten of Konrad Gessner, who uncoincidentally is one of the most famous and prolific encyclopedists in history.
One could easily take small notes made in their own zettelkasten and add them on a 1-1 corresponding basis (including the note, the references, and even a unique identifier chosen and applied by Wikipedia; here's an example with the identifier 1118181304 as a demonstration) to a variety of Wikipedia articles. For certain topics I'm interested in watching, this can be a great boon to my own zettelkasten as I can reverse this process and subscribe to/watch additions at the smallest level and not only excerpt them directly into my zettelkasten, but I can usually locate the original source and excerpt directly from it as a means of verification/fact checking. As a result this zettelkasten being built in the commons on a daily basis can be imminently more useful to me. (Sadly, I don't think that many others are using it the same way or if they are, they're not doing so at the rate/speed/facility that I am.)
A similar example can be seen in the topically arranged group zettelkasten created for The Great Books of the Western World which was lightly edited into the book form of The Syntopicon (volumes 2 and 3 of the 54 book series). One could certainly try to argue that The Syntopicon isn't a zettelkasten because it is in edited book form, but in fact, it's just an easier published and more portable form for me to have a copy of Adler and Company's physical zettelkasten as the end product is a 1-1 version of their card index with some introductory material added for readability and direction. The sad part here is that Adler's zettelkasten has ceased updating in 1952 while Wikipedia continues apace.
For the "fans", one might say Wikipedia is even more closely related to Luhmann's variation of a zettelkasten as the user adding a particular idea doesn't need to add explicit links to other external ideas (though they certainly could), but by placing it on a particular page in a particular paragraph, they're juxtaposing it to a specific location that closely relates it to nearby ideas which already exist in that particular page (train of though/folgezettel).
Certainly Wikipedia has a hypertextual nature as well as a text and document editing capabilities and dozens of other interesting and useful affordances, but at it's core, it's true soul is that of a (digital) zettelkasten.
Reply to @andy at https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/20462/#Comment_20462
David McCullough’s ode to slow (and a tribute to the typewriter) by [[Steve Leveen]] on 2009-12-03
Probably not. But it would do us good to remember that machines are supposed to make our lives better, not faster. Perhaps we should unplug just a little before we become undone. Such decompression is why we think so many Levenger customers savor the pensive pause of the fountain pen (which David McCullough also uses).
And David McCullough is not typing on a computer. He’s using the pre-digital dinosaur that requires a considerable force of those digits called fingers: the typewriter. Not even a zippy electric version, but a 1940s vintage Royal manual typewriter that he bought second-hand in the 1960s. So if you want to know how it is that David McCullough’s books always hit the New York Times bestseller lists, capture Pulitzers, and have never gone out of print, it just may be this old machine.
too many people want to attribute the accolades stemming from the work of a person and their process to the tools they use....
The sound of typewriters—the tappety-tap and the tiny bell signaling need for a carriage return— became part of America’s soundscape in offices and late-night garrets.
I love the setting of a "late-night garret"....