Details
FITCH, JOHN, inventor of the steamboat. Autograph letter signed ("John Fitch") to John Nicholson, Philadelphia, 13 February 1793. 1 page, folio, 301 x 210mm. (12 x 8 1/4 in.), addressed on verso and with Nicholson's docket, a small patch cut away and replaced, perhaps to correct a misspelling.
FITCH AND AN INVESTOR TRY TO FORESTALL A PATENT DISPUTE
A rather conspiratorial letter in which Fitch instructs Nicholson to purchase the rights to an technical innovation relating to the steamboat in case its inventor patents it: "This is in a particular manner to request Mr. Nicholson to give Mr. Stokes at least two Dollars for his improvement altho his model is not worth 5/s and to take his receipt...that it may appear to a jury as a purchase for should he obtain an exclusive right for it may cost us more...It [the improvement] has been a matter that I have had under serious consideration for several years but could never hit on a mode that would please me till it transpired from Mr. Stokes. It undoubtedly will be an improvement of the first magnitude...I think it prudent to show some degree of Generosity..." Fitch (1743-1798) launched the first successful steam-powered vessel on the Delaware in 1787 and held exclusive privileges for their construction and operation from several states. He obtained a U.S. patent in 1791, but passengers were scarce, the vessels had operating difficulties and his investors, including Nicholson, eventually deserted him. Robert Fulton's Claremont, launched after Fitch's death, proved eminently more practical and more successful.
Letters of Fitch are VERY RARE (the last at auction, according to ABPC, was sold in 1959).
FITCH AND AN INVESTOR TRY TO FORESTALL A PATENT DISPUTE
A rather conspiratorial letter in which Fitch instructs Nicholson to purchase the rights to an technical innovation relating to the steamboat in case its inventor patents it: "This is in a particular manner to request Mr. Nicholson to give Mr. Stokes at least two Dollars for his improvement altho his model is not worth 5/s and to take his receipt...that it may appear to a jury as a purchase for should he obtain an exclusive right for it may cost us more...It [the improvement] has been a matter that I have had under serious consideration for several years but could never hit on a mode that would please me till it transpired from Mr. Stokes. It undoubtedly will be an improvement of the first magnitude...I think it prudent to show some degree of Generosity..." Fitch (1743-1798) launched the first successful steam-powered vessel on the Delaware in 1787 and held exclusive privileges for their construction and operation from several states. He obtained a U.S. patent in 1791, but passengers were scarce, the vessels had operating difficulties and his investors, including Nicholson, eventually deserted him. Robert Fulton's Claremont, launched after Fitch's death, proved eminently more practical and more successful.
Letters of Fitch are VERY RARE (the last at auction, according to ABPC, was sold in 1959).