Personal computers may have replaced the typewriter in most homes and offices, but the venerable writing machine is currently staging a comeback. From portable models that hipsters are snapping up in Urban Outfitters to Tom Hanks's bestselling app that recreates the manual experience on a tablet, the typewriter has never been so hot.

This celebration of the typewriter covers what a platen knob is, why QUERTY won out over other arrangements of keys, which authors loved (or loathed) their typewriters, and much more.

• A gift book with yellowed paper and typewriter fonts for a cool vintage look
• Timeline of the typewriter features key models
• Foreword by Paul Schweitzer of Gramercy Typewriter Co.