Mignon 4 Typewriter, Germany, 1924. With Wooden Guard Box.

AEG Mignon Typewriter, manufactured in Berlin in 1924. Small size machine with black lacquered casing, in good condition. Attached oak wood case with lacquered marking on the top, which fits perfectly to the contour of the piece. Also attached is the original key! This fantastic typewriter has a very original shape, as it clearly differs from conventional typewriters. It features a concave surface on the left side where the letters are distributed on a panel instead of the usual movable keys. The writing is transmitted by impulses to the roller, which then transfers it to the paper. As in other typewriters, the marking is lacquered in white on the upper part of the carriage. On the front it also has the manufacturer's mark: AEG German Werke, Berlin, Germany, and the model:4. The machine has been recently overhauled, and is in perfect working order, so you can use it from day one if you wish. It is undoubtedly a very original machine, in good functional and aesthetic condition. Since the end of the 19th century and during a good part of the 20th century, typewriters were indispensable tools in commercial offices, as well as for almost all professional writers. The Mignon is considered the most representative of the typewriters without keyboard. It was manufactured by the Allgemeine Electrizitäs Gesellschaft, popularly known as AEG, from 1904 to 1934, producing about 380,000 units. Its success was largely due to one of the main scientific magazines in France, La Nature, which in 1908 referred to a novel typewriter, the Mignon. In addition, the Mignon brand was characterized by basically making devices for domestic use, with a very adjusted price, with a mechanics easy to produce and requiring few repairs, and speed limitations that were compensated by its ability to change types. Its potential public (individuals and liberal professionals) did not need a machine with maximum speed, as was the case in offices, but valued other aspects, such as the ability to include in the same document text in italics, in different sizes or multiple fonts. The operation of this machine seems complex, but it is quite simple: with the left hand we select the letter we want to write with a punch and with the right hand we press a key to print it. With practice and knowing the layout of the characters in the template where they were selected, it was possible to make more than 130 keystrokes per minute. Curious typewriter that will delight a good collection. Measures: 36 x 34 x 17 cm.