Antique typewriters tap out a win at Auction Team Breker
1873 Sholes & Glidden typewriter, $25,410
COLOGNE, Germany – Auction Team Breker‘s March 26 sale, titled Science & Technology / Mechanical Music / Fairground, was a gratifying success, with many exquisite machines and technological marvels finding new homes.
Several early American typewriters performed admirably, including an 1873 Sholes & Glidden by E. Remington & Sons that achieved €23,100 ($25,410). The Sholes & Glidden typewriter is widely considered the first commercially successful writing machine. This and other antique examples in the March 26 sale were presumably designed for the male office clerks and the new female secretaries that the firm had a hand in training.
Edison Mimeograph typewriter No. 1, $10,390
Other strong performers in the sale included the rare but rusty 1898 Jackson by Joseph Hassel Jackson of Boston, which realized €25,665 ($28,230), and a well-preserved example of Thomas Edison’s Mimeograph No. 1, which earned €9,455 ($10,390).
Working replica of Blaise Pascal’s Arithmatique from the IBM collection, $40,170
First among the antique adding machines was a faithful working replica of Blaise Pascal’s Arithmatique from the IBM collection, the first mechanical calculator capable of addition and subtraction. It tallied €36,520 ($40,170).
17th-century Persian astrolabe, $62,330
The astrolabe is an ancient instrument for making celestial calculations. A 17th-century Persian example commissioned by an unknown nobleman achieved the princely sum of €56,670 ($62,330).
Trumpet organ by the Bacigalupo factory, with three custom-built barrels by master restorer Max Geweke, $48,490
Auction Team Breker is one of only three auction houses worldwide to offer specialist mechanical music sales. Hitting the high note in a symphony of antique musical boxes, automatic pianos, pneumatic instruments and gramophones was an extraordinary 48-key trumpet organ by the multi-generational Bacigalupo factory in Berlin, with three custom-built barrels by master restorer Max Geweke. The handsome machine sold for €44,080 ($48,490)
Two-inch scale model of a Fowler steam showman’s engine, $5,225
The auction steamed to a conclusion with a remarkable single-owner collection of precision model locomotives, showman’s engines and road rollers, led by a two-inch scale model of a Fowler steam showman’s engine, dubbed “Princess” and created by by John Folder of Leeds. It achieved €4,750 ($5,225).
The current rate of exchange is €1 = $1.08.
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