Tesla writes to his first biographer - photo 1
Tesla writes to his first biographer - photo 2

Tesla writes to his first biographer

Lot 43
22.04.2021 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 6 875
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 517689
Lot 43 | Tesla writes to his first biographer
Estimate value
$ 3 000 – 5 000
TESLA, Nikola (1856-1943). Autograph letter signed ("N. Tesla") to Thomas Commerford Martin, New York, 2 June 1903.

Three pages, bifolium, 171 x 136mm (browning at crease affecting all three pages and slighly affecting text).

Tesla writes to his first biographer, trade journalist Thomas Commerford Martin of Electrical World. In full: "Many thanks for the book and its agreeable prospects. It was a pleasure to read the dedication which tells me that your heart is true to - Nikola. Just as soon as I overcome the present dyspepsia of mind I shall freely partake of the honey of enlightenment which you have painfully gathered for the drones of the professor. Since a long time I have contemplated writing a book - to please my enemies - perhaps I may be able to reciprocate - in sentiment at least, if not in effort." Martin (1856-1924) was initially invited to visit Tesla's lab around 1888 in an effort to raise the inventor's low profile. According to Richard Munson's biography, Martin became "entranced" with Tesla and an ardent promoter of his work (Tesla: Inventor of the Modern, p.87-88). In 1894 he would publish The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla.

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