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Letters from inventors

Lot 44
22.04.2021 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 11 250
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 517690
Lot 44 | Letters from inventors
Estimate value
$ 4 000 – 6 000
INVENTORS – An archive of 14 letters, all but one to Thomas Commerford Martin, including: TESLA, Nikola (1856-1943). TLS ("N. Tesla"), New York, 15 April 1922; MARCONI, Guglielmo (1874-1937). Two TLS, New York, 21 January 1902 and 17 September 1908; EDISON, Thomas Alva (1847-1931). TLS, Orange, N.y., 8 January 1909; BELL, Alexander Graham (1847-1922). TLS, Nova Scotia, 8 January 1909. HAMMER, William J. (1858-1934). ALS, New York, 11 March 1920; BRUSH, Charles F. (1849-1929). ALS, New York, 12 April 1904 and TLS, New York, 3 May 1909; AHEARN, Thomas (1835-1938). ALS, Ottawa, 15 July 1898; OWENS, R.B. (?). ALS, University of Nebraska, 17 December 1895; THOMSON, William, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907). ALS, London, 30 June 1897; MILIKEN, George F. (1858-1915). TLS, Boston, 11 May 1908; HUGHES, David E. (1831-1900). ALS, Paris, 8 December 1855, and two diagrams; SPRAGUE, Frank Julian (1857-1934). 21-page TLS, New York, 6 October 1919; WESTINGHOUSE JR, George (1846-1919). TLS, Pittsburgh, 5 September 1888.

Approx. 40 pp., various sizes (staining and some wear overall, affecting text in some places).

An archive of letters to trade journalist and editor Thomas Commerford Martin from an impressive roster of inventors writing on a range of topics. Nikola Tesla promises to help Martin "in every way possible," before making reference to rival Charles Steinmetz of General Electric, noting that he "will have to revise his recent statements" and "travel a long road before he even approximates the effects obtained in my experiments twenty years ago." Marconi encloses signed menus from the Institution of Electrical Engineers' dinner and remarks that the daily press "has indeed given very much space to accounts of the Dinner, and I am glad even for your sake it was such a great success." Sprague's 21-page letter refutes, in excruciating detail, "an unpleasant subject, what may be called an Edison myth" – he notes on page two, "In the interest of historical accuracy, and of, I hope, justifiable pride in my work in the development of the electric railway, I now feel called upon to touch upon the foregoing matters with some particularity. […] the fact remains that Mr Edison definitely did not 'invent' and did not 'perfect' the electric railway…" Also present is an 1855 letter with two accompanying diagrams from David Edward Hughes, who invented an early printing telegraph the year prior. Lord Kelvin thanks Martin for a copy of Electrical Engineer and relays travel plans. Other letters reply to minor queries from Martin relating to Electrical World and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Thomas Commerford Martin was editor of Electrical World from 1883 to 1909, when he resigned to become secretary of the National Electric Light Association, a position he held for ten years. He was also a founder and charter member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and an early biographer of Nikola Tesla.

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