See How Typewriters Evolved Over the Years

The typewriter isn’t exactly a modern technology: a patent for something that sounds an awful lot like one can be found as early as 1714. But it was in the early 19th century that real, recognizable models began to be produced, and by the 1870s the typewriter was widespread. For the next 100-plus years, it would dominate as a mechanical writing device. And now in the computer age, as Richard Polt explores in his new book The Typewriter Revolution, many people are coming back to the typewriter by choice.

Here are just a few of the models that made their mark in typewriter history.

The Typewriter Revolution is now available in stores and online.