An Italian man has created Guinness World Records (GWR) for typing copies of 81 books backwards. According to the record keeping company, the technique is called 'mirror writing'. Not only does the 63-year-old Michele Santelia type books backwards, but he types them using four completely blank keyboards simultaneously without ever looking up at the screen to double check his work.
What makes it more interesting is that Santelia types each book in its original language, whether it be Hieroglyphs, Old Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Mayan, Etruscan, Cuneiform, or Voynich glyphs.
According to GWR, Epic of Gilgamesh, the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Code of Hammurabi, the Bible, all of Leonardo’s writings are among his backwards-typed books
"In fact I am able to type using 16 computer keyboards simultaneously located at different heights," revealed Michele to the records company after achieving the feat.
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It was 30 years ago, in 1992 that Santelia discovered his ability to easily type backwards, and since then he became obsessed with it.
He credits Leonardo da Vinci for his decision to pursue mirror typing.
"It is to his enlightened mind that I, with great humility, attempt to compare [myself] in order to try to understand his mysteries, his secrets and ancient virtues!" Santelia told GWR.
He has also typed all four Indian Vedas backwards and compiled them into a single book, which, he says has a unique characteristic.
“A very peculiar thing about this work is the fact that, besides being very beautiful from the aesthetic point of view, it automatically releases a very sweet fragrance of Indian sandal, which makes it even more mysterious and fascinating," said Santelia to the records keeping company.
Santelia has given several of his books to public figures over the years, including former US Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama.