SAMUEL F. B. MORSE INSCRIBES HIS BOOK ON HIS MOST FAMOUS INVENTION, THE MORSE CODE , TO D’ ALIGNY DURING THE PARIS EXPOSITION.
Rare signed book: Examination of the Telegraphic Apparatus and the Process in Telegraphy. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1869. Softcover, 5.75 x 8.5, 166 pages. Signed and inscribed on the front cover in bold ink, “Presented to Mr. D’Aligny, with the respects of Prof. S. F. B. Morse.” The book has six chapters, including, ‘Telegraphs,’ ‘Semaphores,’ ‘Codes,’ and ‘Information Concerning Telegraphs in Various Countries,’ and six appendices. In very good to fine condition; interior pages are all clean.
Appointed US Commissioner to the 1867 Paris Universal Exposition, Morse prepared this detailed report to provide a history of the development of the telegraph, a survey of current technology, and information on the extent of telegraphic services throughout the world. D’Aligny, to whom this copy was presented, was a noted landscape painter who at the time of his death was director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; interestingly, though Morse is best remembered for his work in telegraphy, he first rose to prominence as a portrait painter. An important presentation with superb association to Morse’s most famous and revolutionary invention.
