At the same time, in 1901-1902, a mechanical index typewriter for personal use, the Mignon, was developed on the basis of a patent by Louis Sell of Berlin (no. 149308 of December 22, 1901), and the first 50 machines were produced. The board of directors could not be persuaded that the electric machine was ready for the market, and saw real sales potential only for the Mignon.

Thus, the machine which had been conceived "only" as a secondary project was put into further production, and in 1903, the Union-Schreibmaschinen-Gesellschaft was founded as its special distributor. Until a few years ago, it was a matter of doubt whether this Model 1 of the Mignon, pictured here, had been produced at all, since only advertising illustrations were known. But in 1990 the first photos of the typewriter were published in HBW (Historische Bürowelt), and shortly thereafter a complete specimen finally turned up, in the Heimatmuseum of Erfurt, in the former East Germany.

https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/mignon.html