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Olivetti Lettera 32

Photo: Lawrence Wang, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One example. Colors, sub-models, and production years vary; the machine you find may differ.

Olivetti Lettera 32

1963–83 · Italy · Portable · 4 kg

SnapItalian sculpturalPocketable
The keystroke
Effortlight
Smoothnesssmooth
Snapsnappy
Precisionmoderate
Landingfirm
Volumeclacky

springy, snap, crack, lighter than the 22

The springy one. A quick crack on the strike and a lighter keypress than the 22; lively.

Designed as the successor to the Lettera 22, the Lettera 32 took its sculptural Italian lineage and gave it a slightly more substantial body and a more comfortable keyboard. Cormac McCarthy used the same one for fifty years and five million words, having it serviced only by blowing the dust out with a gas-station air hose. Light, fast, and famous in equal measure.

What people say

used the same Lettera 32 for over fifty years, writing roughly five million words on it; sold one at Christie's for $254,500 in 2009 to benefit the Santa Fe Institute

Cormac McCarthy

Used by

Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, The Road, and roughly five million words besides (1963–2009)
Günter Grass later novels (1970s–)

See & hear it for yourself

Manuals & repair

All sources

External, in their original form. The people who know these machines best — click through to read and watch.

Where to find one

Listings come and go. These show whatever Olivetti Lettera 32 machines are on the marketplace right now.

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Specifications

Manufacturer
Olivetti
Origin
Italy
Years
1963–1983
Form
Portable
Mass
4 kg
Shift
segment
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