ORVILLE WRIGHT. Photograph signed: "Orville Wright". B/w, 6¼x4½ overall, image 5x3¼ (one surface). Captioned at lower margin: "First Man-Flight, December 17, 1903/Kitty Hawk, N.C." Orville Wright (1871-1948) and his brother, Wilbur (1867-1912), made aviation history with their Flyer in Kitty Hawk, on North Carolina's Outer Banks, on December 17, 1903. While the Wrights had been testing their gliders on Kill Devil Hill for a number of years, this was their first test of their motorized, heavier-than-air flying machine. At 10:35 a.m., Orville Wright was at the controls of the 21-foot biplane with the 40.3-foot wingspan. The 605 pound craft, powered by a 12-horsepower engine that had four piston cylinders and revved to 1,090 rpm, left the ground, staying aloft for 12 seconds and covering 120 feet at an altitude of ten feet. Later that day, during one of their three test flights, Wilbur also manned the controls, traveling 852 feet in 59 seconds. In 1905, Wilbur and Orville decided to stop flying and tried to market their machine, first offering it to the U.S. government and then flying it in France. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE His signed, handwritten letter to telegraphic expert Robert Sabine (1868), insisting that he be given journal space to refute "Hamel's calumnious paper read before the Society of Arts". ALS: "Saml F.B. Morse, 3 pages, 5x8. Po'keepsie, N.York, 1868 August 8. The inventor of the Morse Code who established a telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore in 1844 writes to Robert Sabine, Westminster, London. In full: "I began a letter to you on the 18th July in reply to your valuable letter of the 18th of June. I have had so many interruptions since my return that I must defer its completion, until I have finished by Report as Commissioner for my Government. I write now simply to acknowledge your kindness and to thank you for your courtesy, and to promise you at no very distant day the finished letter on Hamel's calumnious paper read before the Society of Arts. The part in which he refers to me, requires a thorough exposure. I do not ask to have it published entire, but I do ask that it be read to the Society, and that it be recorded in their proceedings, with such remarks of their own as their sense of justice may prompt after a proper examination of the case read more...

JOHN HANCOCK His handwritten March 1783 letter as Governor of Massachusetts, instructing a garrison commander to forbid a ship full of Tories to disembark, requiring them to sail instead for New York (still in British hands) Autograph Letter, unsigned, 1 page, 7¾x12. Written as Governor. Boston, Massachusetts, 1783 March 27. To William Gordon, Commander of the Garrison in Dartmouth. In full: "I have this moment received your Letter by Express, giving information of the arrival of a Flag with a Number of Persons on board who were desirous of remaining some time at Dartmouth. I have laid the state of this Flag before the Council, & in consequence of their advice you are hereby Directed upon no pretense whatever, to suffer any of the Persons or any of the Effects brought in the Flag to be Landed at Dartmouth, or in any other place, but that you give immediate Directions for the Departure of the Flag with the Persons, & their effects to New York, and that after the Receipt of this Letter you make a point of Embracing the first fair wind to put her under Sail for New York, as no circumstance can possibly induce me to Deviate from this order. I am Sir your very humble servant. read more...

JOHN HANCOCK Hancock handwrote, dated and put his John Hancock on this letter to the "Gentlemen of the Senate & Gentlemen of the House of Representatives" in 1783, while he was Governor of Massachusetts. He wrote this letter to inform the recipients that he had received an "Application for Sundry Articles for the use of the Tribe" from the Penobscot, which offered their services to the colonies during the American Revolutionary War. This letter was written less than eight months before the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war between the colonies and England. Draft autograph letter signed "J.H." as Governor of Massachusetts. 1 page, 7¾x6¼. Council Chamber, Boston, Massachusetts, Feb. 7, 1783. Addressed to the "Gentlemen of the Senate & Gentlemen of the House of Representatives". In full: "I have this moment Rec'd a Letter from Colonel Lithgow, by Two Indians of the Penobscot Tribe, these Indians are come to make Application for Sundry Articles for the use of the Tribe. The Letter with the Commissions given one of these Indians by Brigr. Genl. Lovell, I have directed the Secretary [to] lay before you. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE and SARAH E. MORSE The two sign a 3-page, handwritten 1863 letter to their son Willy, away at school Autograph letter signed: "Yr Affectionate Father/Saml F.B. Morse" and "Your loving mother/S.E. Morse", 1 page, 4½x7½. 5 West 32nd Street, 1863 November 22. To their son Willy. Samuel F. B. Morse married his second wife, Sarah Elizabeth Griswold, in 1848. In a three-page letter, Mrs. Morse writes about family affairs, about his pet "Spottie is full of mischief. He tears many things that comes in his way." She tells him she is "going to have somethings on Christmas" wanting to know if he has "enough handkerchiefs...." Beneath his wife's signature, Morse writes, in part: "I add a few lines to your dear mother's letter. She says the truth when she says she thinks of you every day. Both you & dear Arthur are constantly in our thoughts...You must do all you can to please Mrs. Charles, Mrs. Fay and the other teachers and be diligent in your Studies...." Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was an American painter and inventor. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE The artist and inventor signs this letter recommending that Congress purchase letters of General Henry Knox owned by a lady and wishing the courts would effectively put an end to the pirating of his telegraph invention. ALS: "Saml. F.B. Morse", 2p, 7¾x10. Po'keepsie, N.Y., 1849 July 23. To C.S. Daveis, Esq., Portland, Me. Daveis (1788-1865) was a prominent Maine attorney. In full: "Yours of the 17th inst I received on Saturday evening & this morning I called on Mrs Beekman and read her your letter. She feels that she has (as she undoubtedly has) a valuable deposit of papers, which ought to belong to the State or the United States Government. She is well disposed towards accommodating you with the sight and use of the letters of Gen. Knox. She says that the papers are contained in several boxes, and the search will be attended with some labor but that she will select out those of Gen. Knox and lay them by themselves. That she should be desirous of reaping pecuniary benefit from papers possessing so much value to the state, is both natural and proper, and she felt gratefully that part of your letter which promised her you did. read more...

THOMAS A. EDISON The famous inventor penned a section of answers on this questionnaire! Printed Questionnaire filled out by an assistant who has signed: "Thomas A. Edison" at the conclusion, but with 11 words in Edison's hand, 1p, 7¾x10½. J.K. Macomber, Professor of Physics at the Physical Laboratory Agricultural College in Ames, Iowa, sent Edison and other authorities in the field, a printed questionnaire, dated September 27, 1879. Macomber message, in part: "The people of the Western States have been imposed upon by lightning-rod peddlers more, perhaps, than by any other class of swindlers. Among other rods being sold in Iowa is one known as the 'Chambers' rod, widely has been patented by the 'Chambers' National Lightning Protection Company,' of Cincinnati, Ohio. Briefly, this system consists on an Iron rod running along the ridge of the building with points at each end projecting upward…Many public buildings in thus State have been furnished with these rods…I beg leave to submit the following interrogations." Macomber lists seven questions for Edison to answer. read more...

LOUIS CHEVROLET Extremely rare letter written as President of the Chevrolet Aircraft Corporation to an Assistant Engineer at Pitcairn Field in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Typed Letter signed: "Louis Chevrolet" as President of the Chevrolet Aircraft Corporation, 1¼p, 8½x11, separate sheets. Baltimore, Md., 1930 November 18. On company letterhead to Walter C. Clayton, Asst. Engr., Pitcairn Aircraft, Pitcairn Field, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. In part: "In regard to the first paragraph of your letter, we do not know exactly how much of a head the gasoline tank should have over the carburetor float, not having tried anything of the kind, but should judge that a minimum of six to eight inches would work satisfactorily on climbing. In level flight you probably will have plenty of gas head, and we are sending you a new blue print showing you where the float level is...As stated before, we have never contemplated using the Haywood Starter, but if it fits your scheme we will send a cylinder head to the Sky Specialties Company of Detroit and have them advise us the best place to put a boss in our cylinder head for the installation of their starter. read more...

AL WORDEN Spanish flag (6¼x4), flown to the moon on Apollo 15, signed on the yellow stripe by Command Module Pilot Worden, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, also signed by Worden Flag signed: "Flown to the Moon on Apollo 15 - Al Worden CMP", 6¼x4 red, yellow and black Spanish flag, signed on the center yellow stripe. Accompanied by Typed Letter signed: "Al Worden", 1 page, 8½x11, Certificate of authenticity dated June 18, 2010 on Apollo 15 letterhead. In full: "I hereby certify that this flag from Spain (1945-1977) included with this letter went to the moon aboard Apollo 15 in the spacecraft 'Endeavor'. It remained in the command module during the lunar orbit phase of the flight. Apollo 15 was the fourth lunar landing mission, carrying for the first time a lunar rover and a Scientific Instrument Bay in the Service Module. The flight was launched on July 26 and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on August 7, 1971, logging flight time of 295.2 hours and a distance of over 1.4 million miles. Dave Scott and Jim Irwin explored the region of Hadley Rille for three days while I conducted scientific experiments in orbit. read more...