MORSE, SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE. Autograph letter signed ("Saml.F.B. Morse") to Mrs. A.M. Stuart, "Po'keepsie," N.Y., 18 August 1865. 2 pages, 8vo, integral blank tipped to a larger sheet. THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH PROCLAIMS HIS FAITH IN THE ATLANTIC CABLE Morse acknowledges receipt of a letter to William M. Goodrich, in Paris, and passes on the name and address of a married daughter, the adds: "I enclose you also my photograph in accordance with your request. You ask my opinion in regard to the Atlantic Telegraph. I have always had full faith in its final accomplishment; It is practicable, and therefore, the demands of the world will eventually accomplish it. Its prospects are now darkened indeed, and its enterprising projectors are passing through severe trials, but these accompany the most valuable enterprises, and they are often compensated by important experience, the lessons of which will be profitable for the future, The project is delayed, but I do not think it a failure...." The Atlantic Cable, linking Europe and America telegraphically, was proposed only a few years after Morse successfully tested his invention. Cyrus W. Field organized a company in 1854, a route (from Newfoundland to Ireland) was surveyed and, with ships loaned by both Britain and the United States, the laying of underwater cable began in 1857. But the project met with obstacles: "several hundred miles had been laid...when the cable broke; over $500,000 lost in the depths of the Atlantic. To cap the disappointment to Field, the financial depression of 1857 forced his mercantile firm into bankruptcy" (DAB). But Field continued his attempts in spite of three further breaks and a fourth attempt was successful on 5 August 1858. Telegraphic greetings were exchanged by Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan and Field was publicly acclaimed at a 2-day "Cable Carnival" in New York. But the cable soon stopped working properly, Field was accused of having faked the earlier transmissions. During the Civil War Field continued to seek backers for a new cable and in 1866, after other vicissitudes, a working cable was at last completed.
MORSE, SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE. Autograph letter signed ("Saml.F.B. Morse") to Mrs. A.M. Stuart, "Po'keepsie," N.Y., 18 August 1865. 2 pages, 8vo, integral blank tipped to a larger sheet. THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH PROCLAIMS HIS FAITH IN THE ATLANTIC CABLE Morse acknowledges receipt of a letter to William M. Goodrich, in Paris, and passes on the name and address of a married daughter, the adds: "I enclose you also my photograph in accordance with your request. You ask my opinion in regard to the Atlantic Telegraph. I have always had full faith in its final accomplishment; It is practicable, and therefore, the demands of the world will eventually accomplish it. Its prospects are now darkened indeed, and its enterprising projectors are passing through severe trials, but these accompany the most valuable enterprises, and they are often compensated by important experience, the lessons of which will be profitable for the future, The project is delayed, but I do not think it a failure...." The Atlantic Cable, linking Europe and America telegraphically, was proposed only a few years after Morse successfully tested his invention. Cyrus W. Field organized a company in 1854, a route (from Newfoundland to Ireland) was surveyed and, with ships loaned by both Britain and the United States, the laying of underwater cable began in 1857. But the project met with obstacles: "several hundred miles had been laid...when the cable broke; over $500,000 lost in the depths of the Atlantic. To cap the disappointment to Field, the financial depression of 1857 forced his mercantile firm into bankruptcy" (DAB). But Field continued his attempts in spite of three further breaks and a fourth attempt was successful on 5 August 1858. Telegraphic greetings were exchanged by Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan and Field was publicly acclaimed at a 2-day "Cable Carnival" in New York. But the cable soon stopped working properly, Field was accused of having faked the earlier transmissions. During the Civil War Field continued to seek backers for a new cable and in 1866, after other vicissitudes, a working cable was at last completed.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
