LUKE HONEY'S
This Month: Typewriters
In 1952, to celebrate the completion of the first draft of , Ian Fleming bought himself a Quiet De Luxe Portable typewriter from the Royal Typewriter Company of Hartford, Connecticut. First introduced in 1947, Royal's custom-made, gold-plated edition cost Fleming the princely sum of $174. In 1995, Fleming's golden typewriter sold for £55,750* at Christie's – a record price on the day. Nearly 30 years on, celebrity typewriters remain big business: last December, magazine.