The famed inventor sends a letter to an influential Kentucky congressman.
Autograph Letter singed: "Saml F.B. Morse". 1p, 7¼ x 10. No place, no date. Morse writes
to a Kentucky congressman instrumental in getting congress to appropriate $30,000 for an
experimental line between Washington and Baltimore upon which, in May of 1844, he
transmitted, using a code of dots and sashes that he developed (The Morse Code), his famous
salutation “What Hath God Wrought”. 1 page, 7¼ x 10. Written and signed in black ink “Saml
F.B. Morse” to: William P. Thomasson (congressman from Kentucky) from the telegraph room
9:30 P.M. In full: “Dear Sir / If there is any thing of interest / in the house to send to
Baltimore / I will send it / Respectfully / Yr. Mo. Ob. Servt” Kentucky (1843-1847). Fine
condition. Framed to an overall size of 32¼ x 21¾. Minor chip on frame left front, minor
wearing at frame corners.
Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) was an accomplished portrait and mural painter and
founder of the National Academy of Design. On a trip to Europe in 1830, while observing
French semaphores, he realized that messages could be sent even more quickly using an
electrical spark.
He signs a glowing (1854) autograph letter, enthusiastically recommending his
former assistant Otis Wood to any prospective employer. Framed in a Gallery of
History display to 36x22
ALS: "Sam. F.B. Morse," 1½ pages, 7½x9¾. Po'keepsie, 1854 February
3. To Otis E. Wood, Esq., Utica. In full: "Most happy shall
I be, if by a simple letter of mine, I can render you or your worthy brothers
any service. Your brother Orrin S. Wood was my first Telegraph pupil, after
the first (the experimental) line was established between Washington &
Baltimore. He will undoubtedly recollect my predictions at that time, for him,
that having taken the enterprize at its very commencement, and made himself thus
early master of all that pertained to it, he would have an experience, possessed
by no other, which would enable him to command any position he might choose, not
only one of usefulness but I believed also of fortune. I am gratified in
believing that he has attained a position, at least of well earned competence if
not of fortune, which he richly deserves for his high and honorable personal
character, as well as his eminent Skill & perseverance.…"
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.…"
The framed race car engineer signs a biographical page from a pamphlet.
Pamphlet signed: "Ferrari", 8 x 11¼. Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988), whose name is synonymous
with quality engineering, began his racing career in 1919 and soon became a test driver for Alfa
Romeo. About 1939, Ferrari organized his own factory but was prevented from producing his
own automobiles for four years because of a contract with Romeo, which feared competing
against the famed Ferrari name. During WWII, Ferrari's factory was converted to produce ball
bearings and other equipment. In 1947, however, Ferrari's first car with the prancing horse
insignia debuted. A lifetime racing enthusiast, Ferrari produced few automobiles for private
consumer sales until the 1953 debut of the 250 Europa, the first of the long line of Ferrari street
cars that to this day remain highly valued as collectibles. Ferraris excelled on international
racing circuits and garnered ten wins in the Formula One Constructors' Championship
from 1956 to 1983 - more than any other make. Surface creases, otherwise fine condition.
Framed to an overall size of 15 x 25¾. 8 photocopied pages of the pamphlet included on
back of frame.
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. Moderately soiled, light show through of ink. Sporadically
stained.
Beautifully framed display of a Marconi signed NAWA certification.
Partly Printed DS: "G Marconi" 1p, 10¼ x 8. National Amateur Wireless Association
certification to James P. Buxton. Expiration date October 1922. Marconi (1874-1937) carried
out successful experiments with wireless telegraphy near Bologna, Italy in 1895. Two years
later, he erected a wireless station at La Spezia at the invitation of the Italian government. In
1898, Marconi established communications across the English Channel between England and
France. He was awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of his "contribution
to the development of wireless telegraphy". In 1914, Marconi was appointed a Senator in
Rome. While in England in 1924, Marconi signed contracts with the British Postal
service to set up radio communication with all parts of British Commonwealth. Toned,
creased and stains throughout. Framed to an overall size of 19½ x 29½. Frame exhibits
wearing at corners. Left knob was cracked and repaired.
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.
Extraordinary photograph capturing the two innovators together.
Rare Photograph signed: "Henry Ford" and "Harry Ferguson". Sepia, 13¾ x 11 overall,
image 11 x 8 (one surface). HARRY FERGUSON, a manufacturer of tractors in England and
Ireland, developed the Ferguson tractor, a scale model of which is shown on the table in
this photograph. His system of tractor-implement integration utilized a hitch, the linkages, and
controls of which made the tractor and implement work as a single unit operated almost entirely
from the seat of the tractor. Seeking an American market for his product, Ferguson
entered into an agreement with HENRY FORD and the Ford Motor Company. Ford,
who had formed Ford Motor Company in 1903 and was noted for introducing the successful
assembly-line method of production, was to manufacture and market the Ferguson tractor
in the U.S. The company commenced making the tractors in 1938, but the agreement was
terminated after WWII. Ferguson then began manufacturing his own equipment in Great Britain
and the U.S. Portions of 3 middle letters of Ferguson's signature on dark portion (adequate
contrast). Minor surface blemishes at blank margins. Fine condition. Frame has minor surface
ships and wearing at corners.
"The Lady of the Lamp" thanks a patron for gifts of food and details plans for her
summer holiday.
Autograph Letter Signed: "F. Nightingale" in pencil, 4p, 4¼ x 7. 10 South Street,/Park Lane
W. [London], 1891 July 29. To Mrs. Robertson. In full with grammatical errors: "I was so
sorry for Mr. Robertson's Influenza -- I trust he is quite recovered - & that you are pretty
well. Thank you for all the Hampers. Every thing has done well but the cream, for which
the weather was too hot. Thank you for everything. After Saturday please not to send
anything here unless you are so good as to send grass & a few flowers. I am going to
Embley, my old home for 2 or 3 weeks And then Sir Harry & Mrs Verney are so good as
to press my coming to Claydn But don't let the eggs you have been so good as to collect
run down, if that is inconvenient to you. If more convenient to you, they might still come
here. & be given away from here, till further notice - I am thankful Sir Harry is so well - I
can have the usual Bank Holiday & School doings. The Nurses were so pleased with their
day. God's blessings on you all."
This letter references the Nightingale School for Nurses, which Florence Nightingale
had founded in London in 1860.
The Nobel Peace Prize winning physicist apologizes for a missed appointment due to
having been in his lab.
Rare ALS: "P. Curie", 1½p, 5¾x4¼, front and verso. Faculté des Sciences de Paris,
Cours de Physique, Paris, 1904 May 29. To an unnamed woman. Written from the Curie
home at 108 Boulevard Kellerman. In French, translated. In full: "We sincerely regret
Mme Curie and I having missed your appointment yesterday, which you granted us. I was
in the laboratory yesterday at 5:30 in the evening. I found your letter but it was already
too late and Mme Curie does not go to the laboratory at this time. Please excuse us and
accept our sincerest best wishes." Five months earlier, Pierre and Marie Curie shared
the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Antoine Henri Becquerel for discovering
radioactivity and studying uranium. The Curies continued their work on radioactivity, but
Marie did not go to the laboratory as often as before. She was then three months pregnant
and radioactive material was not something of which to be in contact. The Nobel Prize
brought the Curies overwhelming public popularity, to their dislike. The volume of visitors made
it impossible for them to work with the reclusiveness they so much enjoyed.
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.…"
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.
The famed mathematician sends a dinner invitation.
Third Person ANS: "Mr. Babbage", 1p, 3½ x 3¾. Dorset St., (no year) May 23. In full:
"Mr. Babbage will have the honor of dining with Mr & Mrs Strutt on Saturday the 11th
June". 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. By 1825, he had developed a
machine that was capable of calculating up to 20 decimals. Plans formulated by Babbage in the
mid-1830s became the basis for the computers that emerged in the 1940s and 1950s. Lightly
stained at upper right blank corner. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 27½ x 16¼.
Frame exhibits wearing at corners.
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.
Fulton signed this document - buying 32 lots of land in the town of Jersey, New Jersey
for $1,000 - in 1809. He signed it the same year that he filed his first patent for
improvements in navigation by steam and one year after marrying his wife Harriet
Livingston. Pieces by Fulton are rare in any form, and legal documents, like this, are
doubly so. Accompanied by an unsigned engraving of Fulton based on an Alonzo Chappel
portrait.
Manuscript document signed "Robert Fulton". 3 pages plus docket, 7½x12¼, 2 sheets front
and verso, with embossed Jersey Company seal and 1-inch square paper seal on page 3 by
signatures. Nov. 3, 1809. This document was signed between Fulton and the president of the
Jersey Company. Fulton agreed to buy a block of land containing 32 lots in the town of Jersey
in Bergen County, New Jersey for $1,000. Fulton signed this document one year after
marrying Harriet Livingston, his partner's niece, and the same year that he filed his first
patent for improvements in navigation by steam. Fulton is scarce in any form and this is
a fine example suitable for framing and display. Lightly toned, stained, soiled and creased.
Random ink stains. Edges are torn. Pinholes in both sheets. Corners are rounded Folded thrice
and unfolded. Worn, torn, toned and with pinholes along folds.
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. Edison dictated his answers to an assistant who handwrote his replies in a hand
resembling Edison's.
.
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.
This typed letter is signed by the physicist and framed in the Gallery of History style to a
size of 34x20
Typed Letter Signed: "A. Einstein" in ink. 6½x8½ letter. One page. Letterhead from
Knollwood, Saranac Lake, New York. Dated August 1, 1940. Sent to Dr. Alvin Johnson. In
Full: "Mr. Hermann Broch has informed me that I may be asked about Professor Karl Feldmann
of Leyden(Holland). My knowledge of Professor Feldmann's work, however, is not sufficient to
give a valuation of it. I should be grateful if some papers by him would be sent to me. / With the
expression of my highest appreciation of your admirable activities". Framed with two plaques and
a 7x9 color reprinted painting by Rick Parks to a total size of 34x20. Albert Einstein
(1879-1955) was born in Ulm, Germany. When he was a teenager, his family moved
throughout Europe due to his father's work. At various times in his life, he held citizenship
from Switzerland, the Weimar Republic, and the United States. Most of his ground-breaking
work in physics came well before WWII in the form of his special theory of relativity and his
studies in the general theory of relativity. In 1921, he received a Nobel Prize for his work on
the law of photoelectric effect, which is applied in quantum theory.Scientists, Inventors & Medicine | Posters
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FRANK WILCZEK - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED POSTER - HFSID 272326Frank Wilczek signs a 32x23 color poster honoring him and his co-recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics (2004): David J. Gross and H. David Politzer. Poster signed: "Frank Wilscek". Color, 32x23.Sale Price $108.00
$120.00
