Previous image preload Next image preload
Back to catalog
Lot 18
image_0 image_1 image_2 image_3 image_4
Alexander Graham Bell - Fantastic telephone content!
Alexander Graham Bell - Fantastic telephone content!
image_0 image_1 image_2 image_3 image_4
Description:

Bell Alexander
Superb newly discovered Autograph Letter Signed “Your loving / Alec,” four full pages, 8” x 10.5”, separate sheets. On his “Beinn Bhreagh, / Near Baddeck, / Nova Scotia” stationery. To his wife, Mabel, “My sweet little wife,” at their Washington, D.C., home, about his journey from Washington to Nova Scotia. Folds. Minor light soiling on first page. Notation in pencil on all pages by his wife, Mabel. Fine condition.

This letter was not known to exist until it was recently found in the stamp collection of scientist Arthur Westphall Clime, one of Bell’s employees. The Clime family consigned his stamp collection to auction and the letter was purchased by University Archives.

To our knowledge, no letter in which Alexander Graham Bell refers to the telephone is known to exist, other than two others handled by University Archives, and those in the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress. This one is particularly desirable in that it is the only letter in which Bell actually mentions his own use of his invention: “I told her by telephone…”

A one page letter handwritten by Bell to his “darling little wife” on April 21, 1917, four days after this one, is in the Bell Papers [photocopy included]. It begins, “Just a word to say I am alive and well…” Also present is a photocopy of a May 3, 1917 letter (in the Bell papers) penned to Alec by Mabel requesting he “sign enclosed cheque…”

From the minutes of the Philosophical Society of Washington held at the Cosmos Club, February 3, 1917: In part, “Mr. Arthur W. Clime, introduced by Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, presented a communication on Photoelectric radiophonic experiments. Mr. Bell, in introducing Mr. Clime, spoke of the history of selenium. He referred to the remarkable property possessed by crystalline selenium of having its electrical resistance affected by light; and of the utilization of that property in the construction of the photophone. He also referred to the discovery made by the late Prof. W. G. Adams, of King’s College, England, that light produced an electromotive force in crystalline selenium. Mr. Bell had suggested to Mr. Clime that this opened up a new field for scientific investigation and recommended him to follow out the experiments of Prof. Adams by applying the results to radiophonic researches. He had also pointed out to Mr. Clime that the remarkable properties of carbon in radiophonic work would well bear exploration. Mr. Clime then exhibited some of the radiophonic apparatus he has constructed, and spoke of the results that had been obtained…”

In the letter here offered, Bell writes to his wife, in full, “Home here at last after a whole week of travel. I have telegraphed you every day and now, before doing anything else, will give you some written account of my movements since leaving Washington. Left Washington Sunday afternoon (April 8) for Boston. Reached Boston Monday (Apl 9) two hours late and was unable to make connection with St. John [New Brunswick, across the Bay of Fundy from Nova Scotia] train. Stayed at Parker House, and left for St John N.B. by the evening train (April 9). Reached Truro [Nova Scotia] late at night on Tuesday (April 10). Went to Stewiacke [N.S.] Wed morning April 22 and drove to Davidson’s over awful roads full of holes and deep in mud. Spent Wed. April 22 at Davidson’s examining sheep returning to Truro at night (Apl 11). Left Truro Thursday morning (Apl 12) and reached Orangedale the same evening too tired even to think of a forty mile drive to Beinn Bhreagh over perfectly fearful roads. Navigation had not yet opened although the ice was beginning to break up ‾ and there seemed to be no way of reaching Beinn Bhreagh excepting by driving to Whycocomagh ‾ thence to Baddeck and Beinn Bhreagh. I found Casey and John McDermid [Bell’s coachman] at Orangedale with your open Carriage perfectly plastered with mud and with horses practically upon their last legs. John said the roads were fearful and that it would take us at least two days to drive home. There was a nice clean looking hotel at Orangedale so we decided to remain there overnight and start next day (Friday Apl 13).

“On Friday (Apl 13) after lunch we were just about starting for Whycocomagh when a telephone message reached us that the steamboat had left Baddeck for Iona. So Casey and I decided to take the train and let John find his way home alone. The morning train was reported as seven hours late on account of a freight train off the track. Just before starting for the station Kathleen [Casey’s wife] telephoned that the steamer had met with heavy ice on her way to Iona and had turned back to Baddeck. It was too late however to re-call John McDermid as he was well out of reach of telephonic communication so Casey and I went on by train to the Grand Narrows and put up at the Grand Narrows Hotel to await developments. Reached there Friday evening (Apl 13).

“The town side of the straights was filled thick with ice, although there was nothing on the Grand Narrows side to prevent the steamer from going through the draw. We could see however heavy fields of ice floating in the middle of the Lake far away and the tug-boat that is taking the place of SS Blue-hill did not dare to tackle it.

“Saturday (Apl 14) was a rainy day and, although there was considerable ice on the Lake, there seemed to be nothing to prevent the tug-boat from reaching the Grand Narrows safely ‾ Iona side still blocked. The Telephone line was kept busy both from Grand Narrows and from Beinn Bhreagh, with appeals to the steam boat people to make the passage ‾ but nothing would induce them to move. The next day was Sunday so there did not seem much chance of relief reaching us before Monday or Tuesday. Sunday (Apl 15) opened bright and fair, and no reason existed why the steamboat should not come excepting that it was ‘the sabbath day’. The railroad people were not so particular ‾ Freight trains were eventually passing ‾ at least one every hour.

“At last Casey evolved a brilliant idea. Here we had a beautiful spring day and the ice was fast disappearing. We were informed that there was very little ice beyond Christmas Island. Why not then go down to Shen acadie on a freight train and take a boat with us and row over to Beinn Bhreagh from there. The Hotel and Train people were obliging. Mr. McNeil lent us a rowboat and the train hands took the boat on board a freight car and put it in the water for us at Shen Acadie ‾ and we opened navigation on the Bras d’Or Lahrs. We were well provided with warm wraps and rugs and Miss McNeil provided us with a thermos bottle full of hot tea, and an ample lunch. A twelve mile pull was no joke, but I thought that Casey and I could take turns at the oars and thus relieve one another. The wind sprang up against us and there was quite a rough sea. Casey would not allow me to change my seat as he feared an upset. I have considerable difficulty in moving from one part of a boat to another ‾ and altogether find that I am not as young as I used to be [Bell was 70, Casey was 35]. An upset was an uncomfortable thing to contemplate; and even a drift on a rough sea towards the Grand Narrows would be frought [sic] with danger, at a time when no help could reach us.

“We passed several large fields of ice ‾ When the wind and the tide were opposed, the ice seemed to be stateouary [sic] so we took refuge in the quiet water of a sort of boat harbor in an ice-floe and ate our lunch and smoked our pipes … The rowing was specially hard as the wind was blowing on our starboard bow thus throwing the strain of rowing practically upon one arm. He struggled manfully for four and a quarter hours before we reached Beinn Bhreagh Point. Here, under the shelter of the Point he allowed me to change places with him; and I rowed the boat to the Central Wharf which we reached about 8:30 p.m. (Sunday Apl 15).

“Half frozen we took refuge in the farm house while a team was prepared to take us to the Bungalow. From the farmhouse Casey telephoned to Kathleen to find out when she thought we could get to Beinn Bhreagh. She, thinking that the voice came from the Grand Narrows Hotel replied that she thought we might have to wait a day or two more before being rescued. Kathleen would hardly believe me when I told her by telephone that we were already on Beinn Bhreagh, and would be at the Bungalo in a few minutes. We soon reached there and found brandy and a hot supper awaiting us. Your living, Alec.”

Frederick W. “Casey” Baldwin (1882-1948), an engineer, was the manager of Alexander Graham Bell’s estate and laboratory. Casey was the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight (1908, Hammondsport, N.Y.). At the insistence of his wife, and with her financial support, on October 1, 1907, Bell had formed the Aerial Experiment Association with Casey, fellow engineer John “Douglas” McCurdy, airplane builder Glenn H. Curtiss, and U.S. Army Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge who was to become the first person to die in an airplane crash (1908, piloted by Orville Wright). By 1909, they had produced four powered aircraft, the best of which, the “Silver Dart,” made the first successful powered flight in Canada on February 23, 1909. Bell spent the last decade of his life improving hydrofoil designs, and in 1919, two years after this letter was written, he and Casey built the Bell-Baldwin hydrofoil boat HD-4 which set a world water-speed record (70.86 mph) that was not broken until 1963. On March 28, 1922, Bell and Casey received four patents covering their work on hydrofoils; four months later, 75-year-old Alexander Graham Bell died at his Beinn Bhreagh estate.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We do our own in-house worldwide shipping!
Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. ***PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR SHIPMENT TO BE SENT TO AN ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE ON FILE WITH INVALUABLE, YOU WILL NEED TO INFORM US OF THIS AS SOON AS PAYMENT IS SUBMITTED FOR YOUR WINNINGS*** Shipping and handling costs are competitive as we maintain discounted contracts with FedEx. If you have any questions, contact University Archives prior to bidding. After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item. We currently ship via FedEx but if your purchase is shipping to a P.O. Box, we ship via USPS. All items are insured. We ship from our offices in Westport, CT. We may opt to use a third party shipper for very fragile, bulky or oversized items. Items requiring third party shipping will be denoted in the item description. Packages shipped internationally will have full value declared on shipping form. International buyers will be responsible for any customs fees incurred.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000