GUGLIELMO MARCONI (1874-1937) Italian physicist and inventor of wireless telegraphy. Superb I.S.P. 5 3/4" x 9" b/w, a circular profile portrait of the great inventor boldly inscribed beneath his image: "To the Hon. Angelo J. Rossi Mayor of San Francisco With most sincere regards from his fellow citizen Guglielmo Marconi San Francisco 30th October 1933". Also signed by the photographer in pencil beneath the portrait. Just the very slightest silvering in the area just above and to the right of Marconi's ear. Marconi first came to the Bay Area in 1899. He soon discovered that special atmospheric conditions made the Tomales Bay area in Marin County ideal for conducting experiments in long-distance radio signal transmission. He set about building two transmitting stations, one in Bolinas, the other in Marshall. Completed in 1914, the stations, along with counterparts constructed in other key locations, successfully opened up instant communication among California and Hawaii, Japan, Europe and South America. Rossi was Mayor when both the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge were built; he presided over the building of Treasure Island and The Golden Gate International Exposition or World's Fair of 1939. In 1933, Rossi presented Marconi with the key to the city, an event that must have made the two Italians exceeding proud of their common heritage, and it must have been at that event when Marconi handed Rossi this photograph. Replaced in original frame, lacking glass. $800-1200