It's a shame that it's in such rough shape because you don't see these too often. The machine is a bookkeeping typewriter fitted with a Rapid (rapidus is maybe latin?) paper injector. The numbers, much like those on the SG1 paper injector, dictate how far the page is injected, but has a greater range than the Olympia. Imagine having to make monthly entries for a cabinet full of ledger sheets, I'm sure you would really appreciate being able to quickly 'dial' your way to the correct line for a specific month for each sheet. 

Ooooh a Rapidus!

Truly spectacular. So far I´ve only seen one with an outrageous price on it which is faaaaar beyond my capabilities, but I suppose these typewriters come invariably with outrageous prices on them.

And yes, rapidus is Latin for "fast". Comes from the verb rapio, which means "to capture", and from ther words like raptor. The wonders of etymology!

Fleetwing wrote:

Note those double line spacing levers -- I wonder if the operator had to use them both?

Just one line space lever, the one on the right. The one on the left should be a carriage release.

SoucekFan wrote:

 it is pretty trashed, but nice to see, nonetheless.

If it was within a reasonable driving distance I would make the seller an offer just to make sure it wasn't scrapped and then put it in my restoration queue, but I wouldn't pay the current asking price, and definitely not any shipping. Can you imagine how poorly such a heavy machine would withstand shipping?