Lot 436
Bell, Alexander Graham (1847-1922) Inventor of the telephone; pioneer in telecommunications and construction of hydrofoil boats. The bel (B) and the decibel (dB) are named for him. Autograph Letter Signed "A. Graham Bell," 4 pp, 7 x 4½ in., Salem, Mass., June 20, 1874. To deaf poet Alice C. Jennings praising her poem "Visible Speech." He writes: "It is too beautiful for a mere passing comment….I have been touched by the feeling and patterns…and surprised at the extreme beauty of some of the imagery employed…you have at last soared far beyond my reach….It is to me wonderful and inexplicable that your heart should be so full of music. Your poem on Aggasiz, though not to be ranked beside that on Visible Speech, is full of thought and beauty….You have genius and you need not fear to attempt the greatest things….Will it be convenient for you to receive a visit from me on Saturday afternoon?…." Fine.
Alice C. Jennings was one of Bell's pupils in the School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech that Bell opened in Boston in 1872. In their Education of Deaf Children (1892), Edward Gallaudet and Bell praise her poetry and mention that she "became totally deaf in childhood."
Estimated Value $1,500 - 1,800.
|
| |
| Realized $1,469 |
