SAMUEL F.B. MORSE One year before his first successful telegraph message, Morse signs an autograph letter to Treasury Secretary John Spencer, explaining that the cost of preparing the wire will be $10 more than his previous estimate. He'll still come in under budget! ALS: "Saml F.B. Morse", 1 page, 8x10. New York, 1843 May 1. To Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer. In full: "In my letter of the 29th ulto accompanying the contracts for the Telegraphic Wire, and the expenses of covering, I left a blank in the former which I observed was to be filled with a sum not exceeding 24 cents pr.lb. I have this moment heard from Paterson, and am enabled to fill the said blank with 22 cents. This varies the expense of Preparation of the Wire as given in my letter to the Department of 26th ulto from $1900 to $1910 - making the contracts for this part of the work of $690 less than the original estimates, instead of $700 - as therein stated." Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), a portrait painter and a founder and first President of the National Academy of Design (1826-1845, 1861), interested himself in the possibilities of a magnetic telegraph in 1832. He developed the Morse Code for use in the telegraph instrument. read more...

ABOUT HIS ROCKET TO THE MOON. ROBERT H. GODDARD. Historically Important TLS: "R.H. Goddard", 1p, 8¼x11. Clark College, Worcester, Mass., 1921 March 7. To William L. Straus, Jr., Baltimore. On stationery listing Goddard and C.E. Melville as Professors in the Department of Physics of Clark College. In full: "In reply to your letter of March 3, I might say: 1) The work at present is confined to the construction of a small model and there is no immediate prospect of financing anything more than this. 2) Regarding your second question, I admit that there is no oxygen in the atmosphere on the moon, but beg to call attention to the fact that any of the commercial flash powders contain an oxygen-carrying compound, which is usually potassium chlorate. The experiment which has been given considerable publicity took this fact into account, the flashes being exploded in a glass container in which the pressure had been reduced to about 1/60 of atmospheric pressure." Goddard began experimenting with rockets in 1908, when he demonstrated that rockets could operate in a vacuum. In 1914, Goddard received two U.S. patents. One was for a rocket using liquid fuel. The other was for a two or three stage rocket using solid fuel. 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...

ALBERT EINSTEIN He begins an "intellectual refuge" at the time of his and fellow professors' exodus from Hitler's Germany. TLS: "A. Einstein", 1p, 8¼x10¾. Loe Coq-sur-mer, Belgium, 1933 May 2. To Countess Hetta Treuberg, Hotel International, Geneva. In German, translated. In full: "I share fully the views expressed in your letter: Destruction of the entire upper layer by the now fully mobilized masses. (However, how does it stand with the Reichswehr)" The Reichswehr was the German Army. Typed postscript: "Enclosed is a letter from Mr. Speyer." On January 30, 1933, three months before Einstein wrote this letter from Belgium, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. On February 28th, Hitler was granted emergency powers and on March 24th, he was given dictatorial powers by the German Parliament. On April 2, Einstein's bank account of 30,000 marks was confiscated. Between April 4 and May 15, 1933 no less than 164 German professors resigned or were dismissed from their jobs in Germany. On April 12th, Einstein's two stepdaughters left Germany for France. By the time of this letter, Einstein was in Belgium, knowing he would not return to Germany. read more...

HENRY DERINGER Rare handwritten note to his son saying "keep steady to your business and all will go right and straight" Autograph Note signed: "HD" and "H Deringer" in his hand as part of his son's name in the address, 2p, 7¼x9¾, front and verso. No place, no date, but circa 1833. Postscript written on verso of an address leaf addressed in his hand to his son: "John H Deringer Esq/Tioga Village/Tioga County/Penna". In full: "P.S. I am pleased to hear that you have commenced selling goods and that you are coming on so well, keep steady to your business and all will go right and straight." Ink note (unknown hand) on address side: "Henry Derringer [sic]/1833". Henry Deringer (1786-1868) invented the short barreled, heavy caliber pocket pistol that still bears his name. (The pistol type is spelled "Derringer"; only those of his manufacture are spelled with the single "r".) The popular weapon, easily concealable but packing a wallop, was "the weapon of choice of riverboat gamblers". John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln with an original Deringer. Deringer autographs are rare. Mailing fold at the "HD". Fragile. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE One year before he sent his first telegraph message, Morse signs an autograph letter to Treasury Secretary Spencer, requesting $600 to cover the cost of his lab and office. Important ALS: "Saml F.B. Morse", 1 page, 8x10. New York, 1843 May 18. To Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer, who has penned: "Approved/J.C.S." on verso of the integral sheet. In full: "I have engaged eligible rooms for my laboratory and Office at the rate of Four hundred dollars pr annum from the 1st of May instant, which I have the honor to submit for the approbation of the Honorable the Secretary. The sum contemplated in my estimates of the 10th of March handed in to the Department is Six hundred dollars." On March 3, 1843, Congress granted Morse $30,000 to build a telegraph line on poles. The law provided the money "for testing the capacity and usefulness of the system of electro-magnetic telegraphs invented by Samuel F.B. Morse of New York" so any other funds, such as rent for his laboratory and office, had to be applied for by Morse. read more...

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE He signs an autograph letter (1854) to Samuel Colgate requesting proxy votes from him, apparently to forestall a hostile takeover. ALS: "Saml. F.B. Morse", 1 page, 7¾x9¾. Po[ugh]'keepsie, New York, 1854 June 21. To businessman and philanthropist Samuel Colgate. In full: "Will you and your brother give me your proxies in blank as below for the next meeting of the Stockholders of the New York Albany and Buffalo Teleg Co. We wish to be prepared against an intrigue of the pirates. I will explain more fully when I see you." Beneath his letter, Morse has written the sample form he mentions. In full: "We hereby constitute [blank] to be our proxy to vote our Stock at the next annual meeting of the N. York, Albany & Buffalo Telegraph Company. New York June [blank] 1854". Note at bottom, probably by Colgate: "Ans 24 June/54...." In 1844, SAMUEL F.B. MORSE (1791-1872) had successfully sent the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought!", from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. In this letter, the "pirates" Morse mentions are probably Hiram Sibley and Judge Samuel L. read more...

HENRY FORD SELLS THREE ACRES OF LAND (NEAR HIS RIVER ROUGE AUTOMOBILE FACTORY) TO THE RAILROAD FOR ONE DOLLAR!   HENRY FORD and CLARA J. FORD. Partly Printed DS: "Henry Ford" and "Clara J. Ford", 2p, 8x13 (front and verso). Wayne County, Michigan, 1929 June 1. Henry and his wife Clara sell 2.964 acres of land in Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan, to the Michigan Central Railroad Company "for the sum of One Dollar ($1.00) and other good and valuable considerations". The land is located adjoining the railroad's "original 100.00 feet right of way...1970.08 feet along the southerly line of said Michigan Central Railroad Company's original 100.00 feet right of way to a point marked by a concrete monument on the westerly lips of Southfield Road...to a point at the center of the Rouge River...." Also signed by two witnesses and a Notary Public. In 1917, Henry Ford built the huge River Rouge Plant to assemble his Model T's and tractors. One of the earliest schools in Dearborn was a one-room brick building known as the Dort School. It was located on the bank of the Rouge River, just south of the Michigan Central Railroad. 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...