Typewriters, quilts, and the world's first typing manual: A Cincinnati story

Last summer, I sold my Royal KHM to Cincinnati writer Katherine Durack, who wanted to use it to type some of her research on Margaret Longley. Longley opened a typing school in Cincinnati, developed an eight-finger method, and published the world's first typing manual, Type-Writer Lessons for the Use of Teachers and Learners Adapted to Remington’s Perfected Type-Writers (Cincinnati: Phonographic Institute, 1882). She and her husband Elias were deeply involved in shorthand or "phonography," spelling reform, and suffragism. You can read more about them on Robert Messenger's blog. 

Katherine Durack recently asked whether I had a portable available, and in fact I had just received a donation of these two machines. I recommended the Royal Quiet De Luxe as a little sibling to her KHM.

Today I brought the QDL to Durack's downtown Cincinnati apartment, where I got to see her research in progress—all electronics-free. She works with pencil and paper, index cards, and typewriter. 

She also is an expert seamstress and quilter. Check out the cover that she made for the KHM:

Here is one of several beautiful quilts that Durack has created in connection with her research on the Longleys. It incorporates quotations from Margaret Longley's 1882 book, and arranges some of the sentences used in Longley's typing exercises to create a feminist message. The piano keyboard reflects Longley's argument that young women, who often took piano lessons, could adapt their dexterity to the keyboard of the Type-Writer. I recommend clicking on this photo to get a larger version, so that you can read some of the text.

I look forward to more of Katherine Durack's artistic and scholarly creations!