Order of Accurate Typists. In which is also included ÒAs It Was in the Beginning,Ó the matter written by J.N. Kimball for the International Typewriting Contests, held at the Annual Business Show in the New York, October 25th 1915.

[ Underwood Typewriter Company. Owen, Margaret B. ]

Published by New York: Underwood Typewriter Company 1915.

About this Item

This booklet was published to advertise Underwood typewriters and, in particular, the Order of Accurate Typists, which was established by UnderwoodÕs Credential Department. Typists could gain membership in the order by performing an official Underwood Typewriting Test during which they typed at least six hundred words in ten minutes with absolute accuracy on an Underwood typewriter. Members were awarded a certificate of skill and the opportunity to participate in official Underwood typewriting competitions 5 x 8." [6], 25, [1, ads] pp. With two full-page photo reproductions: one of Margaret B. Owen with an Underwood typewriter (as the second-time World Champion Typist) and one of the trophy awarded at the championship (with the caption ÒHeld for ten successive years by the Underwood / ÒThe Machine You Will Eventually BuyÓ). PublisherÕs paper wrappers with blue front cover and buff back cover. Some toning to back cover and dampstaining to a few leaves. A very good copy of a rare item. First edition. The text of the present item, ÒAs It Was in the Beginning,Ó was used as the sample text in the 1915 WorldÕs Typewriting Championship. The introduction explains that Margaret B. Owen took the WorldÕs Typewriting Championship trophy for the second time that year with a rate of 136 words per minute for an hour. She typed on an Underwood machine, which, according to this Underwood-published booklet, Òresponded to every touch of her swiftly moving fingers.Ó Margaret Benedict Owen (1893 Ð 1952) won the WorldÕs Typewriting Championship four times and set the world typing speed record twice (137 words in 1916 and 143 in 1917). She also finished in second place in the world championship three times, including in 1920, when she finished behind George Hossfeld, another member of the Underwood Speed Typing Òdream team.Ó Owen, the daughter of a Canadian-born printer, had risen to prominence as a speed typist at the age of seventeen when she won the World Novice Speed Typing Championship in 1910 and finished second in 1911 before winning the amateur world title in 1912. She was also the author of wrote The Secret of Typewriting Speed (1919). Owen died in Los Altos, California in 1952. OCLC records only two copies (Hagley Museum, Ohio State). OCLC records only two copies (Hagley Museum, Ohio State).

Seller Inventory # 17638

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Order of Accurate Typists. In which is also included ÒAs It Was in the Beginning,Ó the matter written by J.N. Kimball for the International Typewriting Contests, held at the Annual Business Show in the New York, October 25th 1915.
• Publisher: New York: Underwood Typewriter Company 1915.
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition