(AUTOMOBILES) Group of photographs and ephemera relating to

Sale 2368 - Lot 36

Unsold

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500

(AUTOMOBILES.) Group of photographs and ephemera relating to automotive pioneer George Baldwin Selden. 8 items, various sizes, condition generally strong. Vp, circa 1871-1920

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George Baldwin Selden (1846-1922) invented an early lightweight combustion engine intended for use in a four-wheeled vehicle, and applied for a patent in 1879. This gives him some claim to be the inventor of the automobile. The patent went through years of legal challenges before being granted in 1895, and then faced further decades of lawsuits from Henry Ford and others, eventually suffering defeat in 1911. In the meantime, he launched the Selden Motor Vehicle Company in 1905, moving into truck manufacture after his patent defeat.
This collection includes a family photo album depicting Selden circa 1885; a carte-de-visite of Selden circa 1871; three handsome mounted albumen photographs circa 1910, presumably depicting Selden cars; a later photograph of a Selden motor truck; a photostat copy of a legal illustration, "Comparative Scale Drawings of Selden Vehicle"; and a 1920 company pamphlet titled "Yesterday Today Tomorrow." Further details are available upon request.