First Morse telegraph. Historical illustration of the first demonstration model of Samuel Morse's telegraph machine,constructed in 1837. This is the receiver,which was built from an art canvas frame,and was able to register and record fluctuations in an electrical circuit. This prototype was used for the first public demonstration of Morse's telegraph in New Jersey,USA,in January 1838. It took until 1844 for the first telegraph wire to be installed,between Baltimore,Maryland,and Washington DC,USA. Artwork from 'Electricite' (1911) by Max de Nansouty,part of the 'Les merveilles de la science' series of 1867-1891 by Louis Figuier |