A rare, typed letter, on stationery of Lumiére Laboratories, signed by Lumière during World War II. Rare TLS: "A. Lumière in French, 2 pages, separate sheets, 8¼x10½. Lumière Laboratories, Lyon, France, 1943 May 26. To Doctor Maurice Vernet, Paris, France. Fully translated. In part: "Excuse me for resorting to the machine to respond to your benevolent and encouraging letter. I don't write well, and I would not want to impose the boredom of deciphering my handwriting. I am so touched by your appreciation which consoles me against all ostracism. In offering me unanimously the Presidency of the Duchenne de Boulogne Academy, all my colleagues expressed esteem for me which moved me profoundly and which I will not forget. It makes me contemplate with great serenity the obstacles that are ceaselessly thrown in the path I pursue as well as the malicious insinuations of sectarians and conformists who refuse to pay attention to my work…As for me, the duties which confront me and which are very heavy for my 80-year old body, keep me here. Every day, in fact, we receive at the Clinic the sick, often coming from very far despite the difficulties of transport and who regret my absence when, unusually, I am forced to cancel some consultations.

. The airship pioneer writes a letter regarding the receipt for cigar-cases benefiting the Red Cross. Third Person ALS: "Graf Zeppelin" in German, 1p, 5½ x 8½. Friedrichshafen, 1917 January 22. Fully translated: "Graf Zeppelin recommends to the Zeppelin Airship Construction Company to give the attorney at law, Mr. Schwab, the opportunity to receive orders for his timely cigar-cases benefiting the Red Cross." Ferdinand, Count von Zeppelin (1838-1917) entered the Prussian Army in 1858 and served in the Seven Weeks War and in the Franco-Prussian War. He was an observer with the Union army during the American Civil War. In 1891, he retired from the Prussian Army to devote himself to the building of motor-driven airships. Zeppelin invented the first rigid airship in 1900 and in 1906, built one that had a speed of 30 miles per hour. In 1908, he established at Friedrichshafen the Zeppelin Foundation for the development of aerial navigation and the manufacture of airships. Zeppelin died on March 8, 1917, seven weeks after writing this letter. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 33½ x 21.

Frederick Samuel Duesenberg wrote this letter on Duesenberg Motor Company letterhead in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1916. In it, he talks about his family and the engines he was building, including one for Barney Oldfield, the first man to drive a mile a minute in 1903. ALS: "F. S. D & family" in pencil, 2p, 8¼x10¾, front and verso. St. Paul, Minnesota, 1916 February 5. On letterhead of Duesenberg Motor Company to "Dear George Mrs B. & Mary", the Bird family of San Diego, California. In full, with original spelling and grammar: "Your most welcome letter rec'd several weeks ago and it found me in bed but was about over my pneumonia got out of bed three weeks ago and was out for two weeks & then had a touch of rhuematism & went back to bed for a week & this is my first day up. I havent been out of doors since the middle of Dec. We were sure pleased to get your letter I have spoken of you people so often that Mrs D feels she knows you quite well. We did think of coming out west this winter and should have done so but for the fact that we are so busy getting out motors for various purposes. We are building one for Barney Oldfield at Los Angeles. We are building some motors for the Navy Sea planes for the U.S.…"

Inscribed and signed photo of the film pioneering showing off photographs of the Lumière brothers and some early pieces of movie equipment. Photograph inscribed and signed: "To Mr. Marx Reimers/From/Francis Doublier/1894./Motion Picture Pioneer/April 20th 1941/Fort Lee, N.J." B/w, 7¼ x 9½. Doublier, who is surrounded by relics from the early days of motion pictures, has also initialed: "F.D." under a description of several pieces of equipment. In full: "Camera, printer,/projector used/in 1895 to 1900". He has also identified two photographs displayed around him: "Louis Lumière" and "Auguste and Louis Lumière". FRANCIS DOUBLIER (1878-1948), the first to see moving pictures projected onto a wall, signed and dated this photograph while Vice President of Major Film Laboratories, Inc. of New York. His photographic career began in 1894, when the 16-year-old became associated with brothers AUGUSTE MARIE NICOLAS LUMIÈRE (1862-1954) and LOUIS JEAN LUMIÈRE (1864-1948) and their experimentation with motion picture photography.

TLS: "R.J. Gatling", 1p, 8½x11½. Hartford, Conn., 1885 April 14. As President, on stationery of The Gatling Gun Company. To Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, Hartford. In full: "The Chief of Ordnance, State of New York, advises us that he has sent two Gatling Guns here for repairs, and that if anything is needed in the way of appendages or spare parts, that he be furnished with a list of the same, before he gives the order for them. As soon as the guns are received, please put them in good working order, and furnish us with a list of the articles required as above." Exactly 20 years before this letter was written, John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln with a Derringer pistol. Twelve days later, U.S. Cavalry Sgt. Boston Corbett shot Booth with a Colt revolver. By the 1850s, Richard J. Gatling (1818-1903) had become wealthy from agricultural inventions such as machines for sowing rice and wheat. He is best known for inventing the rapid-fire Gatling gun, the first practical machine gun, patented in 1862, the year The Gatling Gun Company was founded in Indianapolis.

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. Why cannot something be done at the next session of Congress for their purpose? Should you be in Washington, please think of it.…"

George Eastman responds to a Charles Edison regarding music selections Typed Letter Signed: "Geo Eastman" as Chairman of the Board of Eastman Kodak Company, ¾p, 8x7¼. Rochester, New York, 1929 February 5. On letterhead of Eastman Kodak Company to Charles Edison, son of Thomas A. Edison. In full: "I return herewith the lists of musical compositions which were enclosed in your letter of February 2nd, having marked eight of them as requested: Ave Maria (Schubert), Evening Star from Tannhauser, Largo-Xerxes (Handel), Londonderry Air, Marche Militaire (Schubert), Meistersinger - 'Prize Song' (Wagner), The Swan (Saint-Saens), Traume (Wagner). The compliment implied in your request is greatly appreciated." At the time of this letter, THOMAS ALVA EDISON (1847-1931) was continuing to perfect his favorite invention, the phonograph (he had first recorded sound in 1877, but put his invention aside the following year to work on the incandescent light), and was manufacturing and marketing a new line of radios. In the summer of 1929, he would also offer lateral cut records and accompanying players, but the company would cease recording operations in October 1929. Thomas' son, CHARLES EDISON (1890-1969), who was then Chairman of the Board of Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Typed DS: "Thos A Edison" as Director, 1¼p, front and verso, 8x11. West Orange, N.J., 1925 June 11. Countersigned: "Charles Edison" as Chairman, "Fred W. Roh" as Assistant Secretary (initialed "HE" by Howard Eckert, Secretary) and "H.F. Miller", "J.V. Miller" and "Henry Lanahan" as Directors. "Minutes of a Meeting of the Board of Directors of/the Edison Storage Battery Company". Two resolutions were passed, one concerning the leasing of a portion of the second floor at 702 Beacon Street, Boston for three years at $170 per month, the other relating to tax audits and Internal Revenue Laws. The Edison Storage Battery Company was organized in New Jersey on May 27, 1901 to develop, manufacture and sell Edison's alkaline storage batteries. It produced batteries for mining lamps, train lighting and signaling, submarines, electric vehicles and other uses. The company had its own research department and sales force, but it also sold batteries through separate sales companies, including the Edison Storage Battery Supply Company and Miller Reese Hutchison, Inc. Thomas A. Edison, Inc. was incorporated on January 27, 1896 as the National Phonograph Company, then reorganized and newly incorporated as Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Typed Letter Signed: "Bertrand Russell". 1p, 7½x9. Penrhyndeudraeth (Wales, United Kingdom), 1963 April 27. To Jack Benjamin, Brooklyn, New York. In full: "Thank you for all your recent newspaper cuttings, which are of great value to me in my work. If I have failed for some time to acknowledge your great assistance I assure you it is not for want of gratitude, but merely through pressure of events. As you know, I have recently written several articles for American publications, and I am most interested to see repercussions to these in editorial and letters columns. With warm good wishes, Yours Sincerely," Bertrand Russell signed this letter of April 27, 1963 thanking one of his many supporters for clippings sent to him of recent articles Russell had published in the New York Times and the fierce reaction they generated. Russell had written these articles denouncing the hard-line, anti-communist stance of the United States government and its role in the Vietnam War. His articles, specifically "Is Communism a Menace?" (April 7), received hostile public response from most quarters; however, they did help to inspire the burgeoning American peace movement.

The businessman signed this letter that's beautifully framed with an image of him! Typed Letter Signed: "F. O. Stanley" on an 8½x11 sheet of paper (8¼x10 visible). One page. Dated October 9, 1911. Message in Part: "I am enclosing checks amounting to $3000. In reference to lease of the State land you mention, I have no objection to having it transferred to you, provided it is agreeable to Mr. Young, and I am writing him in reference to the same". Freelan O. Stanley (1849-1940) and his brother Francis E. Stanley became businessmen who developed the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, eventually building the Stanley Steamer. Their steam-powered automobiles grew extremely popular, although it was eventually superseded by the Model T. Steam engine vehicles gradually became obsolete technologically. After Stanley was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of tuberculosis in 1903, Stanley resolved to get some fresh air. Until his death in 1940, Stanley for the most part resided in Estes Park, Colorado. Through his investment in the fledgling town, Estes Park grew significantly.

The man who pioneered the concept of the space shuttle writes about space travel. Autograph Manuscript signed: "By Dr. Wernher von Braun" in title, 1p, 8¼ x 10½ ruled sheet. Manuscript page, which is written in pencil, is part of a longer manuscript ("1" written by von Braun at upper margin). Headed: "Space Travel/by Dr. Wernher von Braun/Chief, Guided Missile Development Division//Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala." In full: "There are few dreams of the future which have woven so fascinating a web around human fantasy as flight through space. Since the first, epoch-making experiments of the great American pioneer of rocketry, Robert H. Goddard; since the days when Hermann Oberth, the German, and the Russian Constantin E. Ziolkovsky published their startling writings on rocket propulsion, a veritable spate of literature has overwhelmed the public. This has covered the entire field ranging from serious, scientific dissertations to comic strips. Thus, the intelligent layman outsider who is at tempting to sift the actual promises of space flight from idle conjecture frequently finds himself more confused than before he began to [word crossed out] study space flight literature.…"

Letter by Charles Babbage, signed as C Babbage, dated June 11 from Manchester. Expressing pleasure in seeing Miss Manwaring at his party and commenting on the weather for the Horticultural Exhibitions. Babbage is known as the "Father of Computing." ALS: "C Babbage", 1p, 3½x4. 1 Dorset St (Manchester, England), June 11 (no year). Begins: "My dear Madam". In full: "It will give me great pleasure to see Miss Manwaring at my party to night. I am glad on awakening this morning to find the clouds promise a fine day for the Horticultural Exhibitions. Shall we meet there." Charles Babbage (1791-1871) is known as the "Father of Computing" for his ideas about building an "analytical engine", the predecessor of the digital computer. He proposed operations research that involved the idea of using machines to perform routine mathematical operations, eliminating errors in human calculation. Although he never built his computer, his ideas influenced those who later carried out his ideas. Lightly creased, soiled and stained. Upper-right corner is missing. Top-right corner of frame is splintered.  Framed to an overall size of 28x18.