Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm75033670
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Samuel Finley Breese Morse were given to the Library of Congress by his son, Edward Lind Morse, and his granddaughter, Leila Livingston Morse, between 1916 and 1944. Other items were added to the papers through purchase and gift between 1922 and 2015.
The papers of Samuel Finley Breese Morse were processed in 1975 by Charles W. Orhvall and Michael J. McElderry. Additional material received between 1981 and 1995 was incorporated into the collection in 1996 by Margaret McAleer. Three maps were moved from Container 71 to the Oversize series in 2001. The 2019 Addition was processed and the finding aid revised by Andrea J. Briggs.
Some photographs and silhouettes have been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Samuel Finley Breese Morse is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Samuel Finley Breese Morse are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of part these papers is available on thirty-six reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition.
Selected items from the papers of Samuel Finley Breese Morse are available on the
Library of Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000013.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Samuel Finley Breese Morse Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of
Morse had a long and distinguished life, succeeding first as an artist between 1811 and
1837 and then as an inventor from 1832 to 1872. As an artist, he excelled in portrait
painting and founded the
The bulk of the General
Correspondence and Related Documents series consists of correspondence
contained in bound volumes. Correspondence from 1811 to 1838 focuses particularly on
Morse's career as an artist. Morse's letters to his family during this period describe
his studies in
Much of Morse's correspondence from 1832 to 1844 concerns his development of the
telegraph. Beginning in 1848, Morse became embroiled in law suits over patents which
lasted until his death. He carried on a particularly acrimonious dispute with
Unbound items in the General Correspondence series consist largely of Morse's letters to his parents, brothers, and wife. The bulk of Morse's outgoing correspondence from 1854 to 1872 is contained in a series of letterbooks, several of which are indexed.
The collection contains numerous diaries. Apart from a journal kept by Morse in 1805 at age
fourteen, each of the diaries describes his European travel. The earliest entries record
Morse's voyage to and from
The Miscellany series
includes the papers of
The 1996 Addition consists
mainly of correspondence. Included are eighteen letters from Morse to his brother,
The 2019 Addition includes a Magnetic Telegraph Company certificate account book, two receipts from George Hart, treasurer, to John Norton, shareholder, and two letters from Norton to Hart. The remaining correspondence in the addition consists of an 1847 letter of introduction for Robert Dodge from Morse to Robert Walsh, consul general of the United States in Paris, and an 1826 letter from Morse to his grandmother, Elizabeth Breese, regarding the death of his father, Jedidiah Morse.
The collection is arranged in nine series:
Microfilm edition available. Shelf no. 16,372.
Family, personal, and business letters sent and received, supplemented by clippings, drawings, contracts and agreements, drafts of writings, notes, and receipts.
Arranged in groupings of bound volumes and unbound letters and chronologically therein.
Correspondence of Leila Livingston Morse and other family members.
Arranged alphabetically by family member and chronologically therein.
Letterpress copies of letters sent. Several volumes are indexed.
Arranged chronologically.
Diaries arranged chronologically, and notebooks arranged by subject.
Bound and loose newspaper clippings, newspapers, and broadsides.
Grouped by type of material and arranged in approximate chronological order.
Books, pamphlets, magazines, and broadsides.
Arranged by subject matter.
Correspondence, notes, maps, drawings, radio scripts, menus, broadsides, speeches, genealogical records, poems, prayers, handwritten religious tracts, papers of Louis Clausing, resolutions, and a telegraphic message tape.
Original and reproduced correspondence, photograph of a portrait, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Microfilm shelf no. 6,295A.
Scrapbook, first telegraphic message, maps, and resolution re death of Morse.
Organized and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed. Microfilmed in their original locations.