Thursday, September 02, 2010

Harlan Ellison's Typewriter

Those of you who know jack about the field fantastique need no introduction to Harlan Ellison, one of the grand old masters and one to whom the rest of us bow. Guy has won everything there is to win, did the best-ever episode of Star Trek, and he's still at it in his seventies.

For those of you who might have a little money stashed and are looking for a conversation piece, a bit of news: Ellison is going to sell his first typewriter, the one his mother bought him and upon which he began his career. He might even throw in a typed-up page.

Imagine your next dinner party: Oh, that? Why, that's Harlan Ellison's first typewriter, and the beginning of an original story never published before ...

For a literary buff into the genre, it would be kind of like serving dinner on china raised from the Titanic.

Harlan Ellison's typewriter? Really? No shit? C'mon!

I'll post details as I learn more about it, but if Paul Allen or Phil Knight or Bill Gates want to jump in and make a preƫmptive bid, why, drop me a line and I'll pass it along ...

1 comment:

David Silver said...

Hi Steve, thanks for getting out the early word on this. The typewriter is indeed now for sale, and Harlan has asked me to broker it for him since I live and work in the world of rare collectibles, and so he won't be inundated by a process he doesn't understand. Although the information page for the sale just went online last night, I've already received some intriguing responses, so as this goes viral there's no telling where the seller will come from. Maybe we'll hear from the buyer who paid $254,000 for Cormac McCarthy's typewriter last December. Now wouldn't these make a fine matching pair! The sales page link should be there next to my name (cross my fingers and hope the internet gods let it work from here), but if that doesn't work people can contact me directly at silver@photographyhistory.com for more information. Thanks again!