SAMUEL F. B. MORSE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 02/22/1871 - HFSID 350580

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE
Signed autograph letter (1871) to an experimenter, in which Morse discusses "the present Science of Electro-Magnetism."
ALS: "Saml F.B. Morse". 1½ pages, 5 x 8, front and verso. New York, 1871 February 22. The inventor of the Morse Code and the Electromagnetic Telegraph writes to G.W. Varnum, M.D., Montgomery City, Mo. In full: "I received yesterday through my friend & your Cousin J.B. Varnum, Esq your letter of the 16t. instant. In regard to the experiment mentioned in your letter, it is by no means new. Indeed it was from observing this effect, upon a needle, of the magnetism of an electric current (not indeed upon the modern electromagnet, which was the result of his observation,) that Oersted founded the present Science of Electro-magnetism. The use made also of this effect of the magnet upon the needle, to indicate the presence of an electric current upon the telegraph wires, is almost universal in the Offices in Europe; every instrument being furnished with a Galvanometer for the purpose, So although although (sic) not new, you have at least the satisfaction of having independently Suggested a valuable use of the magnetic needle. With respect Yr. Ob. Serv."  G.W. VARNUM was a doctor and scientist who had unknowingly reproduced Hans Christian Oersted's experiment regarding the correlation between magnets and electricity. MORSE greatly admired Oersted, the Danish physicist who founded Electromagnetism - the science upon which Morse's telegraph was based. Seventeen years after Oersted made his discovery, Morse patented his version of the electromagnetic telegraph (1837). After constructing a 37-mile line of wire and poles between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, he publicly demonstrated that telegraphic communication was possible when he sent the message "What hath God wrought" via Morse code (May 24, 1844). Throughout the next two decades, lines and poles were laid across the U.S. By the 1860s, telegraphs had become the dominant form of communication, and by the following decade, news could be telegraphically transmitted to and from the U.S. and Europe in a matter of minutes. Morse enjoyed international fame as the "Father of the Telegraph". Slightly soiled. Fine condition. Framed by the Gallery of History: 36¼x22¼.  Frame has a small chip at top center.