1957 Hermes Rocket #5572854
QWERTY w/European Diacritics
Leatherette Case
Serial No.: 5572854 (The 1957 year of manufacture determination is based on data from the Hermes Typewriter Serial Numbers page at TypewriterDatabase[dot]com.)
Keyboard: QWERTY with U.S. Dollar, U.K. Pound, and multilingual accent symbols. This keyboard is relatively scarce.
Typeface: Pica 2.5mm. (10 characters per inch)
Footprint: About 12 inches square. The height (with the lid attached) is just over three inches.
Weight: 9 pounds 3 ounces (including leatherette case)
Condition: Very good inside and out, and fully functional. The paint is all original; it has not been touched up. As seen in the attached photos, there are spots at the edges and corners of the metal shell where the paint has worn away due to normal usage. There is a small dent on the intermediate table--the metal piece that covers the back half of the platen--just to the right of the center. The exterior surface and the type slugs have been cleaned, and the black ribbon (in metal spools) is new. The base has new, 3D-printed feet.
Details: 1957 marked the fourth year of the Hermes Baby/Rocket model, known as the HD-2/54. The most visible difference over the previous model is the new oval nameplate on the top left (which replaced a branding decal).
As one who occasionally corresponds in some European languages other than English, I find this keyboard quite useful. It has the QWERTY layout English language users are most accustomed to, but the fraction symbols have been replaced with a set of accent symbols. Included are 'dead' keys for the acute (for á, é, í, etc), grave (for à, è, ì, etc), circumflex (for â, î, ô, etc), and umlaut and dieresis (for ü or ï) diacritics, upper and lower case positioning of the tilde (for ã, Ñ, ñ, etc) diacritic, the c with cedilla (ç), and the acute e (é).
This typewriter could be put to immediate everyday use. It types nicely, with the keys moving freely. An "ultra-portable," it is easy to carry with the leatherette case's handle. The leatherette case lid attaches easily and securely. It fits nicely just about anywhere a laptop computer does!
All-in-all, this is a very nice, fully-functional, 66-year-old typewriter.
Fun Fact: Included among the famous Hermes Rocket users named in the Writers and their Typewriters section of The Classic Typewriter Page are Miguel Ángel Asturias, Joseph Brodsky, William S. Burroughs, Philip K. Dick, Matt Groening, and John Nichols.
------
Please note that we are painfully aware of the damage risks entailed when shipping a typewriter. We strive to ensure that your "new" typewriter arrives at your doorstep in the same condition it leaves ours.
Packing and FedEx or UPS economy shipping of this typewriter is FREE to any street address within the continental United States. Expedited shipping and shipping to locations outside the continental United States will be invoiced at our cost.