SAMUEL F.B. MORSE (1791 - 1872) American inventor credited with the invention of the telegraph, as well as a signaling alphabet known as the Morse Code. Fine content, rare A.L.S. "Sam. F. B. Morse " 2pp. 4to., New York, Apr. 3, 1841, to Catherine Pattison, in part: "...What has become of my amicable Troy friends? I have feared almost to inquire after them lest I should hear some trouble had befallen them which might account for their long silence. Friend Catherine, you owe me a letter, it is long, very long since I heard from you or of you, and longer since I have seen you. I myself have been in many troubles in various shapes, which have kept me secluded for two years past. I have made no visits and scarcely seen any one. Immersed in Studios, and scientific experiment...I have heard by the way that you have had a fine portrait of you painted. Do let me see you in picture if I may not see you in reality, and therefore do consent to let your portrait come to N. York the ensuing week to be placed upon the walls of our new and splendid [National Academy of Design] Exhibition rooms... ". Morse had traveled to Europe three years before, seeking financial aid for his invention. While the European scientific community reveled in the invention, they were unwilling to grant him patents or funds. He dejectedly returned to the United States in 1839, and for four more years, during which time he wrote this letter, worked feverishly to improve the invention and obtain funding from Congress to build an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. Weakened folds, but overall quite clean, with integral address leaf attached. $2,000-3,000