Description:

Thomas Edison
n.p., ca. 1877-78
Edison ALS Re: Competition With Alexander Bell "The Bell Telphns he has made are very elegant, and are as perfect as they will ever be I think!" PSA Slabbed
ADS

A handwritten telegraph message signed by inventor Thomas Edison, regarding Alexander Graham Bell's telephone. 1p, measuring 8" x 5.25", n.p., n.d. [ca. 1877-78]. Signed "Edison" with a flourish to the end and addressed to William Orton, President of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Slightly rough edges and light toning throughout. Very faint smudging to Edison's bold signature. PSA Slabbed and Graded, measuring 10" x 6.75" overall.

Edison informs Orton of a meeting with George Phelps, inventor of numerous telegraphy equipment, about Bell's telephone. The telegraph has been stamped with an ownership stamp reading, "This Book belongs to the Western Union Telegraph Co."

In full:
"I saw Mr. Phelps, he took kindly to the idea, said he would do just as you said. He said he would see you about it Monday. The Bell Telphns he has made are very elegant, and are as perfect as they will ever be I think!"

George May Phelps (1820-1888) was a 19th-century American inventor of automated telegraphy equipment. He is credited with synthesizing the designs of several existing printers into his line of devices, which became the dominant apparatus for automated reception and transmission of telegraph messages. In 1877, after the stunning success of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, Western Union began to try its own hand at producing telephones for the commercial market. Western Union conducted extensive tests with the telephone designs of Phelps, Edison, and Elisha Gray. (Gray was an electrician, inventor, and co-founder of the Western Electric Manufacturing Co. in Chicago.) The result was telephones built which utilized a magneto design, which could be used as either a receiver or a transmitter. A user would speak into the magneto telephone, then quickly move the phone to his ear to listen.

Edison was in hot competition with Bell and was looking to produce a telephone receiver that would rival Bell's. In 1879, Edison invented a new telephone receiver, with a carbon-button transmitter and an electro-motograph receiver that would be dubbed "The Edison Loud Speaking Telephone." Edison's carbon microphone provided a substantial advantage over Bell's primitive construction, while the telephone receivers designed by Phelps for Western Union, known as the Phelps Single Crown Telephone, were made in the shape of a looped crown. Fast forward to today, when we all carry pocket-sized devices with interconnectivity that could never have been imagined 150 years ago.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 5.25"
  • Medium: ADS

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