MPA, Martin’s Paradise Archives, can be seen as a center of typewriter research.
The German author Ernst Martin is one of the very few godfathers in typewriter research, as well as a source of inspiration. He disposed of only one portable typewriter, but opposite to that the archive has an extensive technical research collection at its disposal. MPA also houses a huge specialized library, one of the largest private pre-1949 (i.e. pre-Martin) literature collections in the world. It comprises articles, data literature, original magazines like The Phonographic World or Typewriter Topics, original books such as Drouin’s ‘Les Machines a Ecrire’ (1890) and almost any publication after that, photos, patents, advertisements, typewriting methods etc.
Like any active archive, MPA is searching for typewriters and especially original typewriter literature, office photos and other research material. Particularly issues of the German Büro-Bedarf-Rundschau and Schreibmaschinen-Zeitung, as well as American and English magazines are desired. Don’t hesitate to contact.