LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2006 October Grand Format Autographs #629  / 

25610

Samuel Morse extract from the Philadelphia North

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
Samuel Morse extract from the Philadelphia North
<B>Article Arguing Henry O'Rielly's Right to Extend Telegraph Lines in the West.</B></I> Eight pages, 6.5" x 10.5", presumably Philadelphia, 1847. An original six-page answer from the O'Rielly Company to Morse's publication in the Philadelphia North American. Morse claimed that O'Rielly had infringed on a contract when he built telegraph lines from Lancaster to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Morse sued O'Rielly, forcing an injunction. O'Rielly fought this injunction in court. Included in this lot is a copy of the U.S. Circuit Court decision upholding O'Rielly's position against Samuel Morse's company. Judge Kane, who ruled in the case, said that "I have seen nothing in the facts that have been developed to call for a different conclusion from that which abstract principles have directed me." An early example of the little guy beating the corporation. In the next few years, O'Rielly went on to build telegraph lines farther west, eventually all the way to St. Louis. The pages here are good, with foxing throughout, a few creases, and noticeable edge wear. A fascinating account for anyone interested in the history of American commerce. <I>From the Henry E. Luhrs Collection.</B></I>
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