ABOUT This is an original Stenotype stenograph with Bakelite keys and original case. Leather handle on the case. All the keys work properly but doesn't seem to imprint on the paper. CREATOR Stenotype, Chicago, IL. DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.1930. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES Steel, Metal, Bakelite. CONDITION Good. Wear consistent with age and use. DIMENSIONS H 6 in. W 11 in. D 9 in. HISTORY Miles Bartholomew invented the first shorthand machine in 1877 (well, the first one that actually worked). It was consistently fine-tuned while patents were secured between 1879 and 1884. Bartholomew owned a company in Illinois, the United States Stenograph Corp., which was created around his most famous invention.