There’s something romantic about old typewriters. Agreed, they are hopelessly impractical when compared to a modern PC, let alone an Apple laptop. But even the sleekest, fastest PowerBook lacks the mystique of an old Underwood or Remington.

Paul Auster knows this especially well: he wrote a book about his beloved Olympia, The Story of My Typewriter. Tennessee Williams (pictured) posed with his Olivetti Studio 44. And Ayn Rand (born Alisa Rosenbaum) is even reputed to have based her professional name on Remington-Rand typewriters, although this story has recently been discredited.

If you’re intrigued, read more at Richard Polt’s Classic Typewriter page. And if you’re feeling flush, head over to the www.mytypewriter.com web site. As well as a mouth-watering stock of classics such as the 1960s Swiss Hermes, some in marvellously fetching colours, they have a brace of new Olivetti Lettera 35 Portable manual typewriters for sale.

Be warned, though: very few post-war typewriters are worth much in financial terms. If you come across an old Imperial or Underwood at a garage sale or antique shop, snap it up – but don’t expect to have found a bargain.