The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting

Abstract

Cornell ed. "First published 2005 by McClelland & Stewart"--Title page verso. Introduction : Ghosts and machines -- Part 1. Archaeology: beginning at the end : Conclusion : Royal road test -- The archive of typewriting ; Typewriter nostalgia -- Part 2. Assembly: typewriting's first impressions : Writing the truth -- Writing blind -- Clockwork boys and piano keys -- The last of the "firsts" -- Part 3. Amanuensis: typewriting and dictation : Taking dictation -- The typewriter between -- Transylvanian typing -- The type-writer girl -- Remington priestesses -- Burroughs -- Nothing is true; everything is permitted -- Channelling Burroughs -- Part 4. Authority: typewriting as discipline : Pen slavery -- Therbligs -- QWERTY -- Dvorak (or, In the navy) -- The poet's stave and bar -- Typewriting, identity, and truth -- The monkeys -- Barnyard politics -- Not an especially bright dog -- Under difficulties semi colon -- Bourgeois paper-bangers -- Part 5. Acceleration: typewriting and speed : Rail road test -- Ten fingers talk -- On the (Royal) road -- Typewriters at war -- Electrification and the end of the grid -- The typewriter in the garden -- Part 6. Aftermath : Typewriting after the typewriter.