A serial printing device comprises a type drum rotatably mounted on a carriage which can move parallely to a platen. On the periphery of the type drum are mounted a plurality of character-bearing elements urged against the drum by biasing means. A stepping motor rotates the drum for positioning a selected character-bearing element in front of the platen. A hammer is actuatable for pushing the selected character-bearing element radially outwardly relative to the drum against the action of the biasing means, and the drum is moved towards the platen simultaneously to the actuation of the hammer.