(The fine print: bulk of post typed on a Remington Noiseless Model 7, neglected for too long, and now so unfamiliar with my touch - as evidence by the skipped spaces - as to make me weep with shame. The Psalm itself was typed on a SC Silent Super, which is the same machine Shakespeare himself preferred. More evidence? You be the judge.)
Very interesting typing activity! I wouldn't have thought to do that. You will surely learn a lot about the writing process in doing so.
ReplyDeleteI recently did the opposite: I entered my entire typewritten NaNo novel on my computer keyboard, because I wanted an electronic version. My computer keyboard skills have improved as a result of using manual typewriters!
I almost feel like checking, but the theory is so good, I don't want it to be wrong. All good stuff, thanks. Oh, and by the way, Shakespear preferred a British built Byron - I have it on good authority. After all, a later poet was even named after Shakespear's typewriter - makes sense when you see it that way.
ReplyDeleteCameron: I'm actually looking forward to the Psalms and Proverbs and suchlike. Not so much in the endless so-and-so begat so-and-so, who in turn begat such-and-such.
ReplyDeleteRob: Oh, it's true. Fear not.
And...D'oh! I should have known about the Byron. You got me, there.
Yeah, Psalms and Proverbs are some good ones. I, for one, was never able to slog completely through books like Leviticus, which reads like stereo instructions.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I haven't attempted ye olde "write exactly what they wrote" trick, I was often punished as a child by having to copy pages out of the dictionary. Huh.
Perhaps the most popular and most read of the Bible, Psalms and Proverbs. My page edges are worn at that area even though I read through twice and attempted a modern translation several times and actually got bored. Something about the language in the KJV. Great post.
ReplyDeleteOoooh Mike, copying pages of the dictionary must have been as terrible (although educational) as if one was required to read the telephone book!
Ecclesiastes would be a good one too. I like this idea of typing a favorite text, and the Shakespeare theory is very clever even if seems a little nuts!
ReplyDeleteThe book that has the second most important impact on the English language, and antedates the KJB by 62 years is the English Book of Common Prayer. For example, does the following strike a bell: "Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery. He cometh up and is cut down like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay." etc..
ReplyDeleteSpeegle: even as a lover of dictionaries, copying them word-for-word might be a little much.
ReplyDeleteBill: I think that if you did one of those CSI-style fingerprint finder thingummies on old Bibles, you'd see the most prints on those two books, with maybe the Gospel of John or Paul's letter to the Romans coming up behind.
Richard: Just crazy enough to be true, right? Interesting coincidence.
Martin: true. That book has popped up several times in all the 400-year-celebration books I've been reading about the KJV. But I think we can definitively say that Shakespeare did not write that. But can we definitively say that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare?
What can I say?
ReplyDeleteI heard some folks say that the KJB tops all other versions because that's what Jesus used. ( :
That said, congratulations for an incredibly tidy typing job... worthy of the KJB text.
HI, my name is jessie and I am a graduate student at Berkeley's School of Journalism currently working on an article about the resurgence in use and popularity of typewriters. I somehow stumbled on your blog while researching this topic online and would really like to interview you about your use of the typewriter, your love for it, etc. Sorry that I'm contacting you via the comments page, but I couldn't find your email.
ReplyDeletePlease shoot me an email because you would be a great source for my article.
Thanks!
jessie.schiewe@gmail.com