?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
AFTER DESTRUCTION OF LAB: "I AM NOT BROKEN IN SPIRIT, QUITE THE CONTRARY" TESLA, NIKOLA. Three Autograph Letters Signed, "N Tesla," to "My dear Mrs. Anthony," thanking for sympathy after a fire destroyed his laboratory, reporting satisfactory progress but advising her not to read an article about it, again suggesting she ignore an article about him and praising Mrs. [William Randolph?] Hearst. Together 7 pages. Small 8vo or 4to, written on three sheets, the first on "The Gerlach" hotel stationery; folds. New York, 25 March 1895; 4 February; 28 August 1897
25 March 1895: "It was very kind of you to write me for I needed such proofs of sympathy. . . . "I have gone through an experience which can not fail to leave some trace, but I am not broken in spirit, quite the contrary, my energies have risen to the occasion. "My new work is progressing fast and soon, I hope, you will hear from me more pleasant news." 4 February 1897: ". . . I have been so busy that to tell the truth I have had little time for taking pictures. As soon as possible I promise to forward one." "My progress has been most satisfactory since our last meeting as you may judge from a few trials . . . to which you refer. It might perhaps interest you to read it through, though I would not advise you to do this." 28 August 1897: ". . . I had hoped that articles as the one you have forwarded never received any notice from so earnest a lady as yourself. They are naturally disagreeable but most of them are written in a friendly spirit and with the best intentions. I hope that they will not make me lose too many friends and that the public will ultimately get tired of them. "Mrs. Hearst kindly remembered me from the top of Pike's Peak. I sent a dispatch in reply but . . . it failed to reach its destination. I agree with you that no honors are too great and too many for her. "It is a pity that so very few of those who are able to help are conscious of the great opportunities they have for rendering themselves and their fellow beings happy." On March 13, two weeks prior to writing the 1895 letter in this lot, Tesla's South Fifth Avenue laboratory caught fire and was completely destroyed; the fire is likely why he received expressions of sympathy from Mrs. Anthony. On September 2, 1897, Tesla filed a patent for a "wireless system of transmission of electrical energy," which invention he first demonstrated at the Gerlach (today known as the "Radio Wave Building").
