Olivetti Lettera 32
Encyclopedia
The Olivetti Lettera 32 is a portable mechanical typewriter
designed by Marcello Nizzoli
for Olivetti
in 1963 as the successor of the popular Olivetti Lettera 22
. This typewriter was popular amongst journalists and students.
The typewriter is sized about 34x35x10 cm (with the carriage return
lever adding about 1-2 more centimeters in height), making it portable at least for the time's standards, even though its 5.9 kg
weight may limit portability somewhat.
s typewriter. The typebars strike a red/black inked ribbon, which is positioned between the typebar and the paper by a lever whenever a key is pressed; a small switch located near the upper right side of the keyboard can be used to control the strike position of the ribbon, in order to print with black, red, or no ink (for mineograph stencils).
Ribbon movement, which also occurs at every keypress, automatically reverses direction when there is no ribbon left on the feed reel; two mechanical sensors, situated next to each wheel, move when the ribbon is put under tension (indicating ribbon end), attaching the appropriate wheel to the ribbon transport mechanism and detaching the other.
The keyboard uses the QWERTY
layout. Apart from the typing keys, the keyboard includes a Space bar
, two Shift key
s, a caps lock
, a backspace
key, margin release key, paragraph indentation key and a tab-stop set/unset key.
The character set conspicuously lacks the number 1, which is supposed to be substituted by the lowercase l. Although this may seem like a strange absence today, this was common on older typewriters. There is also no exclamation mark character on the keyboard; instead this is typed by a period, then a backspace, and then an apostrophe.
used an Olivetti Lettera 32 to write nearly all of his fiction, screenplays, and correspondence over a fifty year period from 1960 to 2009. In 2009 the typewriter was auctioned by Christies to benefit the Santa Fe Institute
. On 12/4/09, McCarthy's typewriter sold at Christie’s to an unidentified American collector for $254,500, more than 10 times its high estimate of $20,000. McCarthy paid $20 for a replacement typewriter of the same model, but in newer condition.
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
designed by Marcello Nizzoli
Marcello Nizzoli
Marcello Nizzoli was an Italian artist, architect, industrial and graphic designer. He was the chief designer for Olivetti for many years and was responsible notably for the iconic Lettera 22 portable typewriters in 1950....
for Olivetti
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines.- Founding :The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti...
in 1963 as the successor of the popular Olivetti Lettera 22
Olivetti Lettera 22
The Olivetti Lettera 22 is a portable mechanical typewriter designed by Marcello Nizzoli in 1949 or, according to , 1950.This typewriter used to be very popular in Italy and still has many fans...
. This typewriter was popular amongst journalists and students.
The typewriter is sized about 34x35x10 cm (with the carriage return
Carriage return
Carriage return, often shortened to return, refers to a control character or mechanism used to start a new line of text.Originally, the term "carriage return" referred to a mechanism or lever on a typewriter...
lever adding about 1-2 more centimeters in height), making it portable at least for the time's standards, even though its 5.9 kg
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
weight may limit portability somewhat.
Mechanics
The Lettera 32 is a downstrike typebarTypebar
A typebar is an 'arm' inside a typewriter with a character on the end of it. There are generally two characters per typebar, one which will be printed if the corresponding key is struck by itself, the other of which will be printed if the corresponding key is struck while the shift key is depressed...
s typewriter. The typebars strike a red/black inked ribbon, which is positioned between the typebar and the paper by a lever whenever a key is pressed; a small switch located near the upper right side of the keyboard can be used to control the strike position of the ribbon, in order to print with black, red, or no ink (for mineograph stencils).
Ribbon movement, which also occurs at every keypress, automatically reverses direction when there is no ribbon left on the feed reel; two mechanical sensors, situated next to each wheel, move when the ribbon is put under tension (indicating ribbon end), attaching the appropriate wheel to the ribbon transport mechanism and detaching the other.
Keyboard
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
layout. Apart from the typing keys, the keyboard includes a Space bar
Space bar
thumb|250px|A [[computer keyboard]], Space Bar is on the bottom center of the keyboardThe space bar, spacebar, or space key, is a key on an alphanumeric keyboard in the form of a horizontal bar in the lowermost row, significantly wider than other keys. Its main purpose is to conveniently enter the...
, two Shift key
Shift key
The shift key is a modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper" characters. There are typically two shift keys, on the left and right sides of the row below the home row...
s, a caps lock
Caps lock
Caps lock is a key on many computer keyboards. Pressing it sets an input mode in which typed letters are uppercase by default. The keyboard remains in caps lock mode until the key is pressed again...
, a backspace
Backspace
Backspace is the keyboard key that originally pushed the typewriter carriage one position backwards, and in modern computer displays moves the cursor one position backwards, deletes the preceding character, and shifts back the text after it by one position....
key, margin release key, paragraph indentation key and a tab-stop set/unset key.
The character set conspicuously lacks the number 1, which is supposed to be substituted by the lowercase l. Although this may seem like a strange absence today, this was common on older typewriters. There is also no exclamation mark character on the keyboard; instead this is typed by a period, then a backspace, and then an apostrophe.
Popular culture
Cormac McCarthyCormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and modernist genres. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for The Road...
used an Olivetti Lettera 32 to write nearly all of his fiction, screenplays, and correspondence over a fifty year period from 1960 to 2009. In 2009 the typewriter was auctioned by Christies to benefit the Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
. On 12/4/09, McCarthy's typewriter sold at Christie’s to an unidentified American collector for $254,500, more than 10 times its high estimate of $20,000. McCarthy paid $20 for a replacement typewriter of the same model, but in newer condition.