SEIDEL & NAUMANN 'BIJOU' FOLDING MODEL No. 2 (P) 1910, folding portable – built by Seidel & Naumann, Dresden, Germany – No. 82030 Black with glass-topped British QWERTY key-tops (pica) and its original case. It is inscribed with both manufacturer's and retailer's names. Carriage Box: It is in poor condition and has a sticker of the M.V. Reina del Pacifico ( also in poor condition, but it is still there!). This typewriter was bought by my grandfather at Taylor's Typewriters Co.Lt at 74 Chancery Lane, London. Taylor's Typewriter Co. Ltd., of 74 Chancery Lane, London W.C., was an importer of Seidel & Naumann's products until the outbreak of WWl. Because they supplied this machine, their name appears in gilt lettering on the upper frame. By 1917, with WWl in full swing, the same firm changed its supplier and was selling the American version of it: The Corona 3. My grandfather was a Communications Engineer for the M.V. Reina del Pacifico, a 17,707 GRT ocean liner of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. The ship was built in Northern Ireland and served as a troop ship from 1939 until 1946. This typewriter is one of the earliest genuinely portable ones and a beautiful little object; Bijou was the UK export name for the German-made Erika typewriter. When this one appeared in the industry, three brand names dominated the field: the American Standard Folding, which became the Corona 3, Seidel & Naumann's named Erika in Germany / Bijou in The UK, and Clemens Muller AF's little Perkeo. There have been persistent claims that the Germans pinched the folding idea from Americans and that there were patent disputes. This typewriter was serviced about ten years ago and, after that service, was unused in its case; no parts are missing. I opened it for the photos, and it looks good, apart from the obvious use during its long life; I'm sure some love and attention will make her look as it did in her glorious years. The Seidel & Naumann typewriter version was a Gem—a "Bijou."