Reverend Rasmus Johann Malling Hansen (1835–1890) was educated as a theologian and as a teacher of the deaf and mute. In 1865 he was appointed principal and pastor at the Royal Institute for the Deaf and Mute on Kastelsvej in Copenhagen. His comprehension of sign language, a language far faster than the written word, gave Reverend Malling the idea for the invention of the Writing Ball, which would eventually become the world's first commercially produced typewriter. It was given the name Writing Ball because of its hemispherical keypad. It is apparent from the documents of the patent application that the Writing Ball was intended for use in offices and telegraph stations, which meant almost everywhere in society where letters and documents, commercial as well as private, were written. Similar typewriters can be found at several technological museums, in Elsinore and Oslo among other places. The machine was exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878, where it won the gold medal, and most recently it was on display in 2001 at the Danish Royal Library as part of an exhibition about Danish Cultural Treasures.

Provenance: Given to the current owner's grandfather around 1960 by a member of the Malling family.