-40%

Antique Original 1879/1882 Miles Bartholomew Stenograph Machine with Paper Roll

$ 792

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Condition: Used
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted

    Description

    Stenograph typewriters were used in courtrooms to formally and rapidly record legal proceedings in shorthand. Such devices were in use from their invention in 1879 up through the 1930s and occasionally beyond.
    This vintage stenograph is in good condition--it features 8 keys and includes an original vintage spool of paper and its original (albeit battered) case. Its black, gold trimmed base features rare eight-pointed gold star filial decoration at its corners. One decorative edge chipped on type stem center.
    The plaque at the center of the key stems reads: "Patented May 20 1879 | APR 4 1882" --identifying it as one of the early runs from the inventor Miles Bartholomew and his United States Stenograph Corporation of East St. Louis, Illinois. (See https://www.stenograph.com/history-writers for more on the history of stenograph machines)
    This gem has been in my family since the turn of the 20th century --lately as a decorative item on a bookshelf. It deserves to be with a collector of typewriters, stenography, and communication technology.
    Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.