Manuscript/Mixed Material Image 1 of Samuel F. B. Morse's colored sketch of railway telegraph, ca. 1838.

About this Item

About this Item

Title

  • Samuel F. B. Morse's colored sketch of railway telegraph, ca. 1838.

Created / Published

  • ca. 1838

Headings

  • -  Artists
  • -  Inventors
  • -  Inventions
  • -  Communications
  • -  Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872)
  • -  Painters
  • -  Railroads--signals
  • -  Manuscripts

Genre

  • Manuscripts

Notes

  • -  Reproduction number: A67 (color slide)
  • -  Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), perhaps best known as the inventor of the first practical telegraph instrument, began his career as an artist and enjoyed a secure reputation as a portrait painter. By 1837, however, Morse decided to devote all his time to the development of electromagnetic telegraphy. During the course of a visit in 1838-39 to Europe to secure patents, he developed an application of his telegraph for railway signaling that was designed to report automatically the presence of a train anywhere on the railway line. Morse's color drawing of this signal telegraph reflects his talent as both an inventor and artist.

Source Collection

  • Samuel Finley Breese Morse Papers

Repository

  • Manuscript Division

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Samuel F. B. Morse's colored sketch of railway telegraph. 1838. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.039/.

APA citation style:

(1838) Samuel F. B. Morse's colored sketch of railway telegraph. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.039/.

MLA citation style:

Samuel F. B. Morse's colored sketch of railway telegraph. 1838. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/mcc.039/>.