Giuseppe Ravizza Giuseppe Ravizza Giuseppe Ravizza, a prolific typewriter inventor, was born in Novara, Italy in 1811 (died 1885), and spent nearly 40 years of his life obsessively grappling with the complexities of inventing a usable writing machine. He called his invention "" because of its piano-type keys and keyboard. The story of the 16 models he produced between 1847 and the early 1880s is described in "The Writing Machine" and illustrated from Ravizza’s 1855 patent, which bears similarities to the later upstroke design of the Sholes and Glidden typewriter. In 1868, the American Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890) patented, on behalf of
Latham of Bradwall he had married Mary, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of the Rev. Peter Mayer, B.A. Vicar of Prestbury, in the county of Chester. They had four daughters and five sons, though only two daughters and three sons survived into adulthood. Among the surviving children were Sarah, John (who inherited the estate), Peter, and Henry. John Latham (18 March 1787 – 30 January 1853), was a magistrate and poet who is buried in Sandbach. He is the son of John Latham (1761–1843). Born at Oxford, 18 March 1787, Latham was the eldest son of the late John Latham, M.D., F.R.S., sometime