The Imperial Visible typewriter was invented by Herbert Conrad Hess and produced ca.1907 by the Visible Typewriter Mfg. Co. of Kenosha, WI. It featured an oblique, forntstrike typebar arrangement with a traditional four-row keyboard.

 

The typewriter did not do well and, as a result, the company went belly up rather quickly. The typewriter was then reintroduced in 1908 as the Triumph Visible, produced in New York, but this company also failed quickly. One would think that would've been the end of the line but the machine was redesigned and rebranded once again as the Burnett, produced by the Burnett Typewriter Co. of Chicago, IL.

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There were at least four Imperial-named models produced throughout typewriter history. There is the example on this page, a British-made Imperial brand, a Royal Imperial model and a yet-to-be-discovered Imperial seen here.

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Have one for sale? Please email me at Antikey.Chop@gmail.com or call +1 860 729 2252

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