1973 Olivetti Lettera 32 #6941235
Status: My Collection
Hunter: Andrei Diea (adiea)
Created: 10-31-2018 at 02:41AM
Last Edit: 11-03-2018 at 11:03PM
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Description:
The Quest(ion):
I still have trouble identifying the place of manufacture for this one as the back sticker only said Olivetti with no manufacture location. I am doing some research now, adding here all links to comparison blog posts etc. It looks like the various differences are due to age/revisions and not actually the Ivrea/Barcelona plants...
The Machine:
A beautiful machine in perfect condition, built in 1973 in Italy. [1]
Keyboard is for french, italian, romanian and some german characters.
Accents and other letter decorations(dead keys) are meant for small
letters, but when using line spacing in position 2, you can actually
go up one row using side knobs to decorate capital letters aswell.
Carry bag is in poor condition as the zipper is detached(unsewed).
The Story:
Saw this model on a vacation trip, the host had it as an ornament in a
bad shape. Thinkered with it a little but the keys were very unaligned.
Returning home, after doing some research on Olivetti and their models,
searched for a local Lettera 32 and found this model that belonged to
Mr. I. G., a late doctor.
Features:
Type: mechanical typewriter
Symbols: 86 total, grouped in 4 rows, 57 letters, 8 numerical keys,
17 punctuation, 4 accents
Notable missing keys: @, #, 0, 1, *, ~, , [], {}, , |, $
Layout: QWERTZ special symbols and accent keys for languages: romanian,
italian, french and some german characters. Left and right shift
keys, left caps lock and tiny space bar.
Font: Pica 10
Tabulator: yes, tabs can be set up at any and every character position
Color selector: yes, red and black color, plus no color(stencil).
You must have double color ribon installed
Line spacing selector: 0(same line), 1(half line), 2(whole line), 3(two lines)
Variable line spacing: yes via left button on platen left knob
Other: left and right margin set, carriage lock for transport, character rulers,
line guide to indicate where typing will occur plus hole for pencil to draw
horizontal and vertical lines, three type force/sensitivity settings,
line end bell, carriage release levers, paper release lever, V shaped
foldable paper support, margin release and indentation key, backspace key,
half space advance(space key advances half letter when pressing,
half letter when depressing), ribon autoreverse mechanism.
Case: Artificial leather carry bag.
Dimensions: 34 x 35 x 10 cm (13.4 x 13.8 x 3.9 inch) (outside case)
31.3 x 43 x 10.1 cm (in case)
Weight: 5.9 kg
Price of acquisition: 55USD
Date of acquisition: 29.oct.2018
[1] - Year of manufacture deduced from OMEF-1973.pdf page 55.
Manufacture location seems to be Italy by the serial number,
not actually written on the back.
If you have more info on how to determine place of manufacture, please let me know.
Typeface Specimen:
Links:
- User manual [PDF]
- User manual alternate link [BLOG]
- Product description [PDF]
- Link: Writers and their typewriters [LIST]
- Lettera32 repairs w/ photos [BLOG]
- Lettera32 internals [YT]
- Lettera32 Ivrea vs Barcelona vs lettera 22, internals [BLOG]
- Comparison Barcelona vs Ivrea [Mark][BLOG]
Photos:
Hunter: Andrei Diea (adiea)
Andrei Diea's Typewriter Galleries [ My Collection ] [ My Sightings ]
Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 49
located in Bucharest Romania, just starting out my collection :)
RESEARCH NOTE: When researching the Olivetti Lettera 32 on a computer with lots of screen real estate, you may find that launching the Olivetti Serial Number page and the Olivetti Lettera 32 By Model/Year/Serial page in new browser windows can give you interesting perspectives on changes throughout the model series.
