Photographs from the archive

More from the archive… I can’t wait to include scans in my book.

Two new inventors (and strange ones at that)

Reviewing my newest cache of archival documents, I have discovered two more inventors of Chinese typewriters. These are perhaps the strangest of all so far.

Yet another inventor…

Reviewing the document from my most recent archives trip, I found yet another inventor of a Chinese typewriter. Like many of his colleagues, his attempted innovation was a system of subdividing and organizing the characters. Here’s a snippet of his system. 

2009 History of Society Society Annual Meeting

I just received word that my paper “The Typing Rebellion” was accepted by the History of Science Society for its 2009 Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Arizona here I come!

My typewriter piece on China Beat

 

My piece on the Chinese typewriter just posted to China Beat, the blog founded by Jeff Wasserstrom at UC Irvine. Check it out here.

Two scholars working on Lin Yutang

Yesterday, I received a very kind email from John Williams, Assistant Professor of English and American Studies at Yale University, who is about to publish an article on Lin Yutang (one of the inventors of a Chinese typewriter model). I have also learned that Professor Jing Tsu (also at Yale) will have a chapter on Lin Yutang in her forthcoming book. I’m quite excited to find out what both of these scholars have discovered about Lin and his MingKwai model.

First book is contracted with University of California Press

University of California Press has officially offered me a contract for my first book about China’s Ethnic Classification project! It’s time to celebrate!

Oral history with inventor of a Chinese typewriter

Today marked the first oral history session with a Chinese engineer and inventor of a Chinese typewriter. The session was incredibly productive, and has already alerted me to entirely unpredicted facets of the project. I’m already looking forward to our next session.

Chinese typewriter lecture at University of Washington

I just returned from a wonderful visit to University of Washington, where I presented on my Chinese typewriter project. My sincere thanks to Professor Steve Harrell, Professor Madeleine Yue Dong, Professor Pat Ebrey, and to all their students who attended.

New insights on an old inventor

Since I discovered this inventor last year (see my earlier post), I’ve started to put together many of the pieces of his story and his machine.  Also, I finally tracked down his photograph.