ABSTRACT
Some sources, attempting to give the typewriter a longer pedigree than it deserves, have traced its origins to the invention and use of engraved blocks in ancient times. A writing machine must possess two vital features in order to qualify: it must first of all be a mechanical contrivance, and then it must print characters or groups of characters in succession, according to the will of the operator. Blocks reportedly invented in 1575 by the Italian Rampazzetto, in this case as an aid to the blind, are disqualified from the genealogical chart of the typewriter. There are, however, tantalizing but unsubstantiated rumours of writing machines in the seventeenth century. The correlation between the finger movements of a pianist producing musical notes and those of a typist printing characters inspired a host of inventions and provided a starting point for the many typewriters which relied upon a piano keyboard.
