The Papyrograph of Eugenio de Zuccato

A typewriter from the Italian manufacturer Everest, 1954-1961

The first mimeograph ever invented, was this Papyrograph of Eugenio de Zuccato, from 1874.

The procedure of doing a copy with this mimeograph is somewhat complicated, but if you love old devices, I think it's very interesting to see how in 1874 were made the first copies with a mimeograph.

Is very different from what you imagine is a mimeograph. But it's considered a mimeograph because rely on a stencil, that is an impermeable sheet of paper covered of wax or something similar. Then, with a stylus, you remove the covering of wax where you want to write, making the paper permeable to the ink, allowing you to do the copy.

In the Papyrograph, it was used for the first time the word “stencil” associated with text reproduction. It's a method invented by the Italian student of law Eugenio de Zuccato in London, born in Padua in 1845.

This device to print a copy used a complicated chemical procedure to prepare the stencil, with many chemicals.

It's a very fascinating device: here a presentation:

And here I print a copy using its original accessories.

And here, the damaged manual, with all the steps to print a copy with this device.

A report of the Committee on Science and Arts of the Franklin Institute on 1877