Was the writing ball exhibited in Stockholm 1866 and Altona 1869?

During the past year, new and hitherto unknown information about Malling-Hansen’s participation at some of the early industrial expositions has been discovered both from German, Swedish and Danish sources. It is claimed in the old articles, that the writing ball was exhibited at the Industrial Exhibitions in both Stockholm in 1866 and Altona in 1869. If this is correct, we will have to reconsider everything that has been known up until now concerning when the first writing ball was constructed. We know for a fact that Malling-Hansen started to experiment with the placements of the letters on a porcelain ball in 1865! And he probably worked contiously throughout the late 1860's to develope a prototype. I have my doubts that a machine was finished already in 1866, but that a model was ready in 1869, and probably even earlier, I am quite sure of. In his first patent application from january 1870 RMH wrote:

"With these investigations as a basic, I started to build an apparatus for fast speed writing, and this apparatus eventually developed to be the one that I have tried to show in the achieved drawings, and that I will eventually try to describe."

Evidently RMH had the first writing ball ready when he wrote the patent application, and considering the time it will take to make the rather complicated text and the drawings in the patent application, the first model must have been finished at the latest in 1869.

In an undated and anonymous article from the archive of the Technical Museum in Stockholm the author suggests, that the writing ball might have been exhibited in the Industrial Exhibition in Stockholm in 1866. To support this claim he points out, that the official catalogue of the exhibition, in Group 4, Teaching material, shows, that two writing apparatuses were displayed: No. 79, a writing apparatus for blind people constructed by C. E. L. Guldberg from Copenhagen and No. 80, imprints, writing samples and writing apparatus exhibited by the Royal Institution for the Blind in Copenhagen. In the author’s opinion it is the specimen No 80 that may have been an early model of the writing ball. There seems to be a widespread apprehension that Malling-Hansen’s aim was to make a remedy for blind people when he constructed his writing ball, and in the anonymous article from Sweden it is wrongly stated that Malling-Hansen was a teacher at the Royal Institution for the Blind. That is probably why the author draws the conclusion that the exhibition object No. 80, a writing apparatus from The Institution for the Blind, might have been a writing ball. Malling-Hansen never worked as a teacher there! And in spite of the fact that the Institution for the Blind is situated very close to the Institution for the Deaf-mutes, where Malling-Hansen worked as a teacher and principal, nothing can be found in Malling-Hansen’s own writings about his invention to support the idea, that the writing ball was made to help blind people. On the contrary – Malling-Hansen always claimed that his machine was made to be a fast speed writing machine, and that it was his observations of the deaf children using sign language, “speaking with their hands”, that convinced him, that it would be possible to write letters on a machine as fast as the children could form letters with their hands. In the sign language of that time, each letter of the alphabet had its own sign. He was also inspired by the thought of a pianist playing on a piano keyboard at an extremely high speed – pressing down each key at a much higher speed than anyone was able to write a letter with pen and ink. But he never mentioned in his writings that he was inspired by blind people, and it is difficult to be sure of where this idea came from.

It could possibly have to do with the fact, that the very first attempts to make writing machines by others, were motivated by the wish to help blind people. And even though this was not the case with Malling-Hansen, it may have been reasonable to assume this, if the journalist was not well informed, and when it was first written down somewhere, a “fact” that was only a false assumption, could easily be repeated in other publications. In some presentations in magazines and newspapers from the early 1870’s it is mentioned, that the writing ball would be of tremendous help for blind people, but this was not the words of Malling-Hansen himself, it was the article writers own evaluation. It must also be admitted that Malling-Hansen in some of his advertisements for his writing ball listed blind people as one of the category of users that would have great benefit from using a writing ball, but only as one of several different groups of potential users. And Malling-Hansen did make writing balls specially designed for blind people - but at a much later time. At the Paris-Exebition in 1878 he received both a gold medal for the writing ball as a writing apparatus, and a silver medal for the writing ball as an educational apparatus for blind people. It is known that Malling-hansen participated with four machines in Paris, one small model for paper strips, one "standard" specimen of the tall model with colour ribbon - and possibly one or two writing ball with the braille or moon alphabet on the keys instead of the ordinary letters.

Johanne Agerskov in her leaflet “Who is the Inventor of the Writing Ball” (Copenhagen 1925;  in Danish), page 31, explains as follows: The German magazine “Zeitschrift für Büro-Bedarf” had an article about the writing ball with the information that the writing ball had been exhibited at the “Allgemeine Industrie-Austellung” in Altona in 1869.  The Author, Mr J. Burghagen, had this information from a book entitled “Die Schreibmaschine”, published by Mr Otto Burghagen, the founder of “Bürobedarf”. He added that “Bürobedarf” no 76 of October 15, 1904 had a comment on the writing ball and stated the year of the invention as 1865. Mr J.Burghagen, however, had checked the exhibition lists from Altona 1869 and found that the writing ball was not included.  Furthermore, Engelke Wiberg in a letter to Prof Hannover of 26 May 1924, comments concerning the information about Altona 1869: “It is likely that a friend of my father’s (I don’t recall his name) showed the writing ball in Hamburg at a company called “Donner & Co” in 1869 to representatives of the newspapers and magazines, and this demonstration was possibly related to the Altona exhibition; but since the patents were acquired only later, the idea of partaking in the exhibition was abandoned”.

Malling-Hansen was probably well known in the Altona area, as he had worked for 3 years as a teacher and headmaster at the Institution for the Deaf-mutes in Schleswig, when Altona, which today is a suburb of Hamburg, was a large city belonging to Denmark. Malling-Hansen also later made trips to visit institutions all over Europe and on holidays, so it would be no surprise if he also travelled to Altona in 1869.

And there is a way that we can find out for sure, whether Malling-Hansen really went to Germany in 1869, and the information can very well be hidden in the archives of Danish industrial funds, which donated financial support to Danish constructors to travel abroad. Further investigations in the archives of these funds can give us more secure evidence about Malling-Hansen and the Altona-Exhibition in 1869. It has been claimed that Malling-Hansen at some point received financial means from the “Reiersenske reisefond” but this information has not yet been confirmed.  

Until certain evidence can be found, we are left to value the reliabillity of the different articles that claims that the writing ball was exhibited in Altona. Personally I am certain that there existed at least one prototype of the writing ball in 1869, and I will not shut out the possibillity that it was exhibited by RMH in Altona, either at the official exhibition or to the press and visitors at a private event.

Oslo, 09.09.08

Sverre Avnskog

Yorkshire Exhibition, ARTS AND MANUFACTURES, Leeds 1875

Official Catalogue.

No. 19       HOLTEN, SOFUS E., 32 Ludgate Hill, London, E.C.

                     THE “WRITING BALL”, or ELECTRIC TYPE-WRITING APPARATUS.
                     An ingenious instrument devised by the Rev. MALLING HANSEN, by 
                     which any one, even the Deaf and Dumb, may write or print with great speed and accuracy.

Then in 1878 Malling-Hansen attended the World Exhibition in Paris, and for this event he had worked out four models of the writing ball, two of them shown in the information folder of the Danish Section. The writing ball had gone through several important improvements, and now it was equipped with a colour ribbon and did not longer use an electromagnetic battery, and thus the weight and the size were reduced drasticly. Also in Paris he received the First Price medal in gold. At the same exhibition his competitor, the American typewriter inventor Densmore, also exhibited his Sholes&Glidden typewriter produced by the Remington Factory. His typewriter was at this stage very big and heavy, and received the Silver medal in Paris, a fact that Malling-Hansen refers to in some of his letters from this period. It's obvious that he was extremely proud that the experts valued his writing ball higher than the American Remington machine. But as we know, he still lost the commercial competition, as the improved Remington machine only a few years later was sold in a number of probably more than 2500 specimens, while the writing ball produced never exceeded more than a couple of hundreds. According to private letters to his brother, Johan Frederik Hansen, Malling-Hansen exhibited 4 different models in Paris. From the official papers we know that the new tall model with colour ribbon and the small model for paperstrips on a wooden foot were developed for this exhibition. The two other models may have been writing balls with Braille and Moon alphabet, because Malling-Hansen also received a silver medal for the writing ball as an educational apparatus for blind people in Paris.

Transkribering og kommentarer af Jørgen Malling Christensen.

Vi har fundet den blanket Malling-Hansen brugte i forbindelse med anmeldelsen til den danske Komité for deltagelse i verdensudstillingen i Paris i 1878, hvor han viste fire forskellige skrivekugler og indhøstede stor, positiv opmærksomhed – og desuden adskillige bestillinger fra forskellige lande! Han belønnedes med guldmedalje for skrivekuglen i sin skrivemaskine-form – den smukke og elegant høje model med farvebånd og uden batteri - , og en sølvmedalje for en skrivekugle med braille eller moon-alfabet til brug for blinde. Fra en anden kilde – en avisartikel i Berlingske Tidende fra 17.oktober 1878 – ved vi at tre af skrivekuglerne skrev på almindeligt papir, medens den fjerde skrev på en smal telegrafstrimmel.

Vi har også (se brevsamlingen) et brev fra RMH til hans bror Johan Frederik, dateret 2 juni 1878, i hvilket han fortæller: “Jeg har nu fire Maskiner færdige at gaa til Paris. De ere alle forskjellige. Hr Duch reiser med dem, vistnok paa Onsdag.”

Hr. Duch var en dansk telegrafist, som åbenbart havde to vigtige egenskaber: Han kunne betjene skrivekuglerne; og han kunne forklare deres funktion på flere forskellige sprog. Duch var ansat på det Store Nordiske Telegraph-Selskab og blev velvilligt udlånt – på orlov – fra sin tjeneste for at kunne hjælpe Malling-Hansen med at på betryggende måde transportere skrivekuglerne frem og tilbage og med at demonstrere dem på verdensudstillingen. Denne velvillige, og for RMH sikkert meget vigtige, assistence hænger sammen med at Carl Frederik Tietgen (1829-1901), den tids store industri- og finansmand, havde fået øjnene op for den nytte skrivekuglerne kunne gøre ved telegrafstationerne. Tietgen havde ved et par tilfælde lånt RMH penge – fra mæcenens private tegnebog – for viderudvikling af skrivekuglen for telegrafstrimler. Dette fremgår af de “hemmelige arkiver” Tietgen brugte for visse transaktioner.

I det følgende gengives RMHs anmeldelsesinformation, som er skrevet med hans karakteristiske håndskrift på et stort papirformat. Se også en kopi af den originale blankets to sider.

Blankettens første side:

Tilbagesendes i to enslydende Exemplarer til Komiteens Sekretær, Industriforeningen, Holmens Kanal 12, Kjøbenhavn K.__________________

Verdensudstillingen i Paris 1878.

Undertegnede    R. Malling Hansen.

Boende            Kgl. Døvstumme-Institut, Ørebro, Kjøbenhavn.

Har afsendt til (Komiteen for Danmarks Deltagelse) direkte til Verdensudstillingen i Paris nedenstaaende Gjenstande:

=====================================================

Gjenstandens L.b. Nr. -  Danemarque, Copenhague, R.Malling Hansen (to ord ulæselige), Hr. A. Duch, L’Exposition Internationelle à Paris.

Gjenstandenes Benævnelse  -  4 Exemplarer af Skrivekuglen.

Salgspris i Francs  -   Maa ikke sælges.

Total Værdi for hver Kolli  -  Ialt Kr. 1500.

Afsendte den 9 Juli 1878

R. Malling Hansen.

Blankettens anden side:

På anden side har RMH tegnet en skitse, som anviser hvorledes de fire maskiner skal fremvises, og han giver desuden detaljerede informationer om alle mål og instruktioner angående placering, sikkerhedsaspekter etc:

NB: Alle  Maalene  ere  fremgaaede  af  en  nøie  Overveielse og  maatte  -  om  muligt  nøie  overholdes.   R. M-H.

Figur 1: - - -

A er  en  Glaskasse,  der  er  9  Tommer  høi  og 3  Quarter  Alen lang  og  bred,  indvendigt  Maal.  Den maa være  til  at  tage  helt  bort  fra  Bordet, naar  Operateuren[1]  arbeider  med  Maskinerne;  men  maa  ogsaa  paa en  eller  anden  Maade  kunne  lukkes  fast  til  Bordet, saa  at  ingen  uvedkommende  kan  tage  Kassen  af,  naar  Operateuren   er  borte.  a, a, a, a  er  4  Skrivemaskiner[2] , alle  indb. forskjellige.  –

B er  et  Bord  af  sædvanlig  Bordhøide  (5 Quarter);  Pladen  er  2  Alen  paa  den  ene  Led  og  1⅓ Alen  paa  den  anden; den  maa  være  noget  Tyk  (for  at  Lyden  ikke  skal  blive  for  stærk  under  Skrivningen)  og  betrukken  med  grønt  eller  brunt  Klæde. 

C er en  Stol , helst en  let  Contoirstol,  Dreierstol,  eller  Rørstol  med  Sædet i en  Høide af  1 Alen  1 Tomme  fra  Gulvet,  altsaa  7  Tommer høiere  end almindelig  Stolesæde-Høide.  –

E,E  - - - er den ene Side – mod hvilken den Skrivende vender Ryggen, den maa gjerne være dækket af en Væg eller en  Monter;  de andre 3 Sider derimod maa yde fri Adgang for Publicums  Øine, dog  saaledes , at Folk paa ingen Maade maa kunne komme tæt hen til Bordet, omringe dette under Skrivningen, pille ved Maskinerne  o.s.v.  -  Derfor er

D.D  - - - et  Rækværk, der er 4 Alen langt paa den ene Led og 3 fem sjettedelen Alen paa den anden Led, det er 1 ¼ Alen høit og bestaar af

F,F F - - -  Jernstænger, 1¼ Alen lange  med et  Øie foroven (og i en  Afstand af 1 Alen fra hinanden), hvorigjennem kan føres

GG  - - -  et pænt, farvet Reb.

NB: en Skuffe  ønskes anbragt et eller andet Sted i Bordet, dog ikke paa den Side, som Skriveren sidder ved. – Bordet maatte helst staa paa en Forhøining, der er saa  stor at Stolen ogsaa kan faa Plads  paa den.  - 

Figur 2:  - viser Rækverket set fra Siden : F. Jernstængerne med 1 Alen imellem.

19-6-78                       R. Malling Hansen.

Research, transcription, translation and comments by Jørgen Malling Christensen.

Illustrations, comments and publication by Sverre Avnskog.

In Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung from 1881.09.02 it is stated that the writing ball was exhibited in Altona in 1881 taking part in: “Die internationale Ausstellung von Arbeits- und Kraftmaschinen zu Altona” (International Exhibition of workshop machines and power engines), which opened on August 18,1881.

Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung had a reporter present, and his three part article about the exhibition were published on August 19 (evening edition, front page), on August 26 (morning edition, page 5) and on September 2, 1881 (evening edition, page 5). The latter edition is what interests us most, because of the comment on the writing ball being exhibited and demonstrated.

This part of the text is transcribed and translated below:

Wanderungen durch die internationale Ausstellung zu Altona.

Von unserem Spezial-Berichterstatter.

III.

- Zum Schlusse under heutigen Wanderung besichtigen wir noch die gleich am Eingang aufgestellte Schreibkugel von Malling Hansen, welche 8 Zoll im Durchmesser und in 54 Stempeln alle Buchstaben, Zahlen und Unterscheidungszeichen enthällt. Ob sich das Schreiben auf derselben leicht entlernen läßt, vermögen wir nicht zu beurtheilen; jedenfalls handhabten die in der Ausstellung anwesenden Vertreter sowie eine Junge Dame sie mit große Geschicklichkeit, und die Buchstaben kommen deutlich und exakt auf das Papier. Möglich, daß die Schreibkugel unserer gewöhnlichen Schreibfeder einmal wirksame Konkurrenz macht.

In English:

Walking through the international exhibition in Altona.

By our special reporter.

III.

....At the end of our walk tour today we examine Malling Hansen’s writing ball, exhibited right at the entrance, 8 inches wide and with 54 keys containing all letters, digits and punctuation marks. Whether it is easy to learn writing with the machine, we cannot judge; nevertheless, the representatives present at the exhibition used it very skilfully – including a young lady -, and the letters are printed clearly und with precision on the paper. It is possible, that the writing ball, one day will become a real competitor to our ordinary pen.

The last exhibition, in which a writing ball was exhibited, was at the Scandianavian Art, Agricultural and Industrial exhibition in Copenhagen in 1888. The mechanic, August Lyngbye, was now in charge of the development of the writing ball, and his mechanical establishment had collected not less than seven writing balls for the event, showing the development of the writing ball from 1870 and up to 1888. The newest model, created by Lyngbye, had a colour ribbon and a paper platen, and was much lower than the well known, tall form. Lyngby recieved the First Price medal for this writing ball, but it was not made in a high number, as Malling-Hansen died only two years later, and all orders were cancelled. According to adverisements from Aug. Lyngby, he could build writing balls with both small and capitol letters, but no such machine is known to exist today...