Nikola Tesla
New York, NY, March 16, 1901
Nikola Tesla 1901 TLS: "I have undertaken to establish… wireless telegraphic communication with Europe… [a] stepping stone to further realizations of still greater importance" Days After Securing $150,000
TLS

A 1p typed letter signed by Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), signed by him as "N. Tesla" at lower right. March 16, 1901. Written at Tesla's laboratory at 46-48 East Houston Street, New York, New York. The letter is matted and framed behind glass in a mahogany-finished frame. Not examined out of the frame. Expected transmittal folds and a few extra wrinkles. Pencil-inscribed "Tesla" in the upper right corner. Isolated staple marks at upper left, and scattered discoloration from adhesive traces found mostly near the bottom. Uneven toning at lower right not affecting the scientist's signature. Else near fine. The sight size of the letter is 7.75" x 10.25" while the overall framed size is 14.875" x 17.375" x 1.25".

Tesla addressed this letter to "R.T. Lozar, Esq.," that is, fellow electrical engineer Robert Ten Eyck Lozier (1868-1921). Both Tesla and Lozier had previously worked for Thomas Edison in New York City; Tesla had lasted there only six months in 1884 before striking out on his own, but Lozier, who began working there as a 14-year-old office clerk in 1883, eventually became Edison's personal assistant in the office, laboratory, and factory. It is highly likely that the two men knew each other from this overlapping time in Edison's shop.

Tesla wrote this letter from the third of his series of Manhattan laboratories: 46-48 East Houston Street, between Mott and Mulberry Streets, in the NoHo section of Manhattan. There, at his home base between 1895-1902, Tesla continued to develop the underpinnings of wireless telegraph, telephone, and radio communication. Tesla's confidence in future projects had been boosted by a recent coup: he had just secured a $150,000 investment from financier J. Pierpont Morgan two weeks earlier, on March 4, 1901, in exchange for a 51% share of the profits from Tesla's patents. Thus, it was with tremendous optimism and excitement that Tesla stated in the letter to Lozier, "I have undertaken to establish during the present year wireless telegraphic communication with Europe…"

Lozier meanwhile had left Edison and gained further work experience at General Electric. In 1897, Lozier became a founding managing partner of Bullock Electrical Manufacturing Company (Cincinnati, Ohio), a firm specializing in electric power and electric lighting, and by early 1901, he was serving as a district manager. In addition to his day job, Lozier also kept active within the electrical engineering community, especially the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). We strongly suspect that the "Institute" to which Tesla refers multiple times in the letter was the AIEE. This was an organization co-founded by Tesla, Edison, Weston, and other industry leaders in 1884 to promote future discoveries in the field of electricity. Lozier was a member of various AIEE committees and a future local branch chairman, so perhaps he had reached out to Tesla in this semi-official capacity in March 1901.

Tesla wrote in full:

"New York, March 16th, 1901.
46 & 48 East Houston Str.

R.T. Lozar, Esq.,
Bullock Elec. Mfg. Co.,
New York City.

My dear Sir: -

I have your letter of March 16th, and wish to say in reply that you have no reason whatsoever for extending me an apology. Such things happen too frequently to require any notice or or [sic] comment. I am perfectly convinced that the Institute did not mean to slight me, and my regret for being unable to participate in an efficient manner is all the greater as I feel this.

As you may know from the journals, I have undertaken to establish during the present year wireless telegraphic communication with Europe, on which I have been steadily engaged for a number of years and which will claim most of my time. I am not attracted by any pecuniar [sic] reward, but merely by the humanitarian value of the accomplishment which, I hope, will prove the stepping stone to further realizations of still greater importance.

I shall, of course, always be pleased to see you, but do not think it is necessary to trouble yourself with a call on this account.

Wishing the Institute the best success in the timely experiment and regretting my limitations, I remain,

Very truly yours,

[signed] N. Tesla"

Tesla had been feverishly occupied with his wireless experiments since the early 1890s. In 1899, after securing a $100,000 investment from real estate tycoon John Jacob Astor IV, Tesla had established an experimental laboratory in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was here that Tesla's research and development into large coils capable of producing millions of volts of electricity made more feasible his dreams of sending wireless telegraphic signals from the United States to Europe.

Tesla began short-term planning for his latest laboratory and experimental wireless transmission station - Wardenclyffe Tower, aka Tesla Tower - after signing the business contract with Morgan in early March 1901. He selected Shoreham, on the North Shore of Long Island, for the site. By the autumn of 1901, the tower climbed 180+ feet into the air and culminated in a large metal dome. Tesla's hopes to transmit the first wireless signal to Europe were completely dashed, however, when his rival Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted the Morse code for the letter "S" from Cornwall, England to Newfoundland, Canada on December 12, 1901. Support for Wardenclyffe evaporated as soon as Tesla lost the wireless race. He scrabbled unsuccessfully to find more funding, but was by 1906 forced to abandon the project. Nevertheless, historians of science widely agree that Tesla's work on wireless communication over 100 years ago set the stage for the development of smartphones - 21st C. technology that we cannot conceive of living without today.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: framed: 14.875" x 17.375" x 1.25"
  • Medium: TLS

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