Ever wonder the history of carbon copies? Me either, but it doesn't mean it doesn't make for an interesting story. Mental Floss has the lowdown.
From the piece...
Englishman Ralph Wedgwood and Italian Pellegrino Turri developed the first manifestations of carbon paper independently around the same time. In 1806, Wedgwood patented a composition aid for the blind, the stylographic writer. The device replaced the standard quill with a metal stylus and substituted a sheet of carbon paper in place of liquid ink. The carbon paper was placed between two pieces of stationery and slid between metal guide wires. Pressure from the metal stylus left impressions of the writer’s penmanship on the bottom sheet of paper, which became the original document. The top piece of paper, meant to keep the writer’s hand clean, picked up a mirror image copy of the manuscript on its underside. When Wedgwood’s intended market showed little interest, he modified the stylographic writer and repackaged it as a document copier.
By at least 1808, Pellegrino Turri had also developed carbon paper as a composition aid for the blind — specifically, his ladyfriend, Countess Carolina Fantoni. He built a machine, not unlike a mechanical typewriter, that allowed the Countess to correspond with him without dictating her innermost thoughts to a third party.
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