One of the many hats I wear is “editor.” When I found out Marcin Wichary was starting a journey to write a book about the history of keyboards, typewriters to computers to mobile, told as stories about people—well, I lobbied him to becomes its editor. Now, five years after that point—and eight years after he had the gleam in his eye and started to research and write the book—we went to Kickstarter this morning to crowdfund its production. The goal of $150,000 was hit in two hours. We’re closing on funding at 200%. The campaign has 29½ more days!

Update: Now over $700,000 with under 2 days to go, we passed through two stretch goals. All book backers will get an “extras” volume that will be 160 pages and in full color, featuring photos that didn’t fit into the book, behind-the-scenes production details, and the full index.

The book is 1,216 pages long, split in two volumes: Volume 1 is largely about analog stuff with keyboards; volume 2 mostly considers digital things with keyboards. There are spies and international intrigue, keys that are illegal in some countries, Linotype machines, typewriting contests, an investigation into repetitive strain, and much, much more. But it’s all through the lens of the personal: how people and keyboards intersected. I loved editing it and I think you might love owning it. We go to press in late summer and books will arrive in October 2023.

Marcin created a beautiful website full of pictures from the book and renderings of how it will look: two hardbound volumes wrapped in a custom slipcase. The whole thing is luxuriously printed on a domestic U.S. paper (from Cougar) often used for art books, and printed with high-quality stochastic screening, a technique that preserves details to an extraordinary extent. The book will be printed in Maine by Penmor.

This is all Marcin’s work—I’ve been midwife to the book, and acting also as its crowdfunding, print, and fulfillment manager. Lots of work ahead!