SAMUEL F. B. MORSE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/02/1856 - HFSID 40984

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE
The telegraph inventor and artist signs this letter giving gratification to the Trimount Literary Association
Autograph letter signed: "Saml F.B. Morse", 1p, 4¼x6½. Po'keepsie, 1856 June 2. To Henry P. Dall, Esq., Secretary of the Trimount Literary Association. In full: "Yours of 31st is received at the moment of my leaving home for Europe; but I am happy in the opportunity however slight, to give any gratification to the Officers & Members of your Association, especially when it can be accomplished by Simply assuring you of the respect & well wishes." Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was an American painter and inventor. While attending Yale College Morse painted for a living and later studied art in Europe.His first wife died suddenly and Morse, heartbroken, became determined to formulate a faster way to send messages long distances.While returning by ship from Europe in 1832, Morse encountered Charles Thomas Jackson of Boston, a man who was well schooled in electromagnetism. Witnessing various experiments with Jackson's electromagnet, Morse developed the concept of a single-wire telegraph. On May 24, 1844, using a code of dots and dashes that he developed, sent the message, "What hath God wrought!" from the Supreme Court room in the Capitol building to Baltimore, the first successful application of the telegraph. In time the Morse code, which he developed, would become the primary language of telegraphy in the world. It is still the standard for rhythmic transmission of data. The original Morse telegraph, submitted with his patent application, is part of the collections of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. Slightly shaded from previous mounting. Light ink transfer. Horizontal folds, not at signature. Otherwise, fine condition.