Thurber, Charles

Typewritten letter signed in type by Charles Thurber, 1 page (10 1/8 x 8 in.; 256 x 204 mm) on a bifolium of light blue wove paper, Norwich, 3 February 1846, to Congressman John A. Rockwell of Connecticut, the typed text in all capital letters in sepia, with typewritten panel on verso of integral blank, postmarked Norwich, Ct. and stamped Free.

Typewritten letter signed in type by Charles Thurber, 1 page (10 1/8 x 8 in.; 256 x 204 mm) on a bifolium of light blue wove paper, Norwich, 3 February 1846, to Congressman John A. Rockwell of Connecticut, the typed text in all capital letters in sepia, with typewritten panel on verso of integral blank, postmarked Norwich, Ct. and stamped Free.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

One of the very earliest surviving typewritten letters by the inventor of the first practical mechanical typewriter, with likely the earliest surviving typewritten postal cover.

Charles Thurber was one of many inventors whose work contributed to the development and manufacture of the typewriter. Thurber, who had earlier manufactured firearms with his brother-in-law, obtained several patents for his writing machines, one of which was intended, in 1843, as a teaching aid for blind pupils.

The present letter was written on Thurber's second typewriting machine, which he christened a "chirographer." This invention was described in Jerome Bruce Crabtree's Marvels of Modern Mechanism and their Relations to Social Betterment, 1901: "The first practical typewriter was invented by Charles Thurber of Worcester, Massachussetts, and patented in 1843. It was slow and crude but had all the essential characteristics of the modern machine. He was the first to place the paper on a roller and give it longitudinal motion with provision for accurate letter and word spacing. A horizontal wheel carried on its outer edge rods to the lower end of which were affixed type and to the upper end a finger key. The wheel was turned to bring the type into place and in turning inked the type by drawing the type-face over inked rollers. When the finger key was pressed it forced the type on the lower end of the rod against the paper on the cylinder or platen and printed. Thurber's machine was never manufactured and a museum in Worcester contains the only model in existence" (p. 612).

Thurber was granted U. S. Patent 4271 for his chirographer on 18 November 1845, and on his prototype, he produced the present letter: "I avail myself of your kind permission to inform you that we have after so long a time succeeded in copleting [sic] a machine for writing. I shall start for Washington in one week from next Monday. If without much trouble you can secure me [preceding word struck through] a room for me at some convenient place while I stay there you will confer on me a very great favor. You mentioned that probably you could procure accommodations at the place wher [sic] you board. Such an arrangement, I assure you would be very acceptable to me. I want a room which would be convenient for receiving such company as would wish to see the machine, I should, of course, wish a room by myself which would not be liable to be entered while I might be absent. I would suggest whether the company I might receive would not be objectionable in a private house and therefore wheter [sic] it would not be better for me to go to a hotel? I do not wish to make a very public exhibition of my machine, but I wish to confine the exhibition of it to thise who would not look upon it with a curious eye only but who would understand it and be interested in a machine of this kind. You notice that there is considerable imperfection in the formation of the letters in this communication but there is not one to which a complete remedy cannot be applied in future machines. It works very well and whatever the imperfections may be in this machine any one can see inspecting this that all defects can be remedied, On the whole I am very well saisfed [sic] with this."

Thurber's machine attracted a fair bit of attention, including this notice from the 9 January 1847 issue of Scientific American (vol. 2, no. 16):

"We some month's since noticed Mr. Thurber's very ingenious machine for writing or forming letters by means of a series of keys which are operated like the keys of an organ. As the inventor's claim in this invention may be interesting to some of our readers, we give it an insertion. The patentee says—'The nature of my invention consists in communicating to a pen or pencil holder, the motions necessary to delineate any and all letters or other characters, by motions at right angles to each other, obtained by sets of cams, each set being so formed as to combine the right angle movements, and thus generate the vertical, horizontal, oblique, and curved lines required to delineate the letters or characters. Each set of cams is actuated by a separate or distinct lever or handle, as in a piano forte, and the table, with the paper, &c., caused to move for ward the required distance at the termination of each letter or character by the return motion of the lever or handle.

"Claim—'Having pointed out the principle of my invention, and the manner of constructing and using the same, and indicated some of the variations in construction, which may be made without changing the principle or character which distinguishes it from all other things before known, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by letters patent is communicating the motions to the pen or pencil by means of cams acting on frames, so that the vertical and horizontal strokes can be given by separate movements, and the oblique curved strokes by the combined action of the two, substantially as herein described. And I also claim giving to the sheet of paper, or other substance to be written upon, a horizontal movement for spacing off the letters, and a vertical movement for the lines, in combination with the movements of the pen or pencil, substantially as herein described.'"

But despite the general interest in developing a typewriting machine—and the particular attention devoted to Thurber's invention—the slow operation of Thurber's chirographer prevented it from ever going into production.