Marcello Nizzoli - Olivetti, Studio 44 - Typewriter - 1950-1960

Marcello Nizzoli - Olivetti Studio 44, typewriter 1952. Olivetti Studio 44 is a famous semi-standard mechanical typewriter manufactured by Olivetti in 1952. Current lot number: serial number: 8992 30, stunning and perfectly functional. History It was designed in 1952 by the architect and designer Marcello Nizzoli, a collaborator with the Ivrea company since 1938, in collaboration with engineer Giuseppe Beccio. Studio 44 replaced the Olivetti Studio 42 model, released in 1935 and designed by architects Figini and Pollini and painter Xanti Schawinsky. Description Studio 44 was produced after the Olivetti Lexikon 80 (large office machine) and the "Lettera 22" (light and portable machine). It borrows from the Lettera 22 the way the cinematics were designed, thus maintaining a more compact mechanism that allows this machine to be transportable, also thanks to the case included. From the Lexikon 80 it borrows some of the escapement mechanisms and the carriage with a variable range of mechanical adjustments. This contributed to making it a highly appreciated typewriter worldwide. The Studio 44 typewriter was therefore purchased not only by private individuals at home but, given its features, also by a professional and entrepreneurial audience. Studio 44 with and without lid. Note the “character hopper” (type slug tray), the ink ribbon spools and the touch-regulation lever, located on the left side of the machine frame. In the model for the Italian market, it has a QZERTY keyboard, as is customary in Italian machines (apart from modern computer keyboards). In addition to the typing keys, the keyboard includes a space bar, two shift keys, a “Lock-MShift” key, a return key and a tab key. There are two levers at the margins of the typing keys, one on the right and one on the left. The lever on the right selects the ink color. To prepare the “Matrixes,” the ribbon is made inactive by positioning the lever opposite the white dot. The lever on the left is used to set and cancel margins. Under the removable lid that protects the ink ribbon spools and the character hopper, there is on the left the touch-regulation lever, adjustable in 4 levels, thus selecting the resistance the keys will have during typing. The set of typing keys has one omission: there is no key for the number "1", which is obtained from the lowercase letter l (ell); similarly there is no zero, which is obtained by typing the uppercase O. This feature was quite common in all mechanical typewriters. The keys for uppercase accented vowels used in Italian writing are also missing; to type an uppercase accented letter you had to type the letter followed by an apostrophe. Upon request, they could still be ordered with the 1 key or with other special characters or with keyboards for writing in other languages. Summary Characteristics: Manual semi-standard typewriter Keyboard: 43 keys, corresponding to 86 characters. Ribbon: height 13 mm; the ribbon color change is obtained by moving a lever to the right of the keyboard. Lineing up device: present. Line spacing: four positions plus zero. Serial number: engraved on the frame, on the right under the carriage. Production: from 1952. Body: metal with removable lid. Colors: beige, light blue Weight: 6.5 kg. Design: Marcello Nizzoli

Estimate:£117.1

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