CIRCULAR PROMOTING HIS INVENTION OF A SUBMARINE CABLE TO FACILITATE TRANSATLANTIC COMMUNICATIONS, accompanied by four folding diagrams of the patented device

New York [NY], 1860. Single sheet, folded to 27 x 21 cm., [3] pp. of text printed on blue paper, signed in type by William H. Horstmann, and dated New York, Feb. 1860. A detailed description of the cable's components, its manufacturing process, the method of laying the cable underwater, the length of time and the cost to manufacture it, and the feasibility of the project are given. Two short letters are reprinted on the third page: a note from Samuel F.B. Morse, Poughkeepsie, Sept. 20, 1859, giving his opinion on Horstmann's idea of "paying out the cable at the moment of manufacture on board the ship," and the efficacy of using iron wire in its construction; a testimonial from J.P. Humaston, Electrical Engineer, NY, Nov. 22, 1859, stating that he had tested the sample of Horstmann's Submarine Telegraph Cable and found its insulation to be "absolutely perfect," a statement certified by C.C. Walden, the Superintendent of Cuba Telegraph Company. Old fold lines, with some separations along folds. A tender copy. No listings found on OCLC.
Accompanied by four folding diagrams: No. 1. Mode of Construction & laying a Submarine Cable (Patented) Profile. Single sheet, 42 x 55 cm., showing the ocean in profile, a bird's eye view, and the layered construction of the cable (with a watercolor wash). [NY: March 1859]; No. 2. Mode of Constructing a Deep Sea Cable Coiling on board the Steamer (Patented). Single sheet, 55 x 42 cm., showing the requirements for manufacturing the cable aboard ship, including a grooved wheel, belt, spindle, glass rods, etc. [NY: nd]; No. 3. Mode of Constructing & Laying a Submarine Cable. Manufactured Partially on Shore & Completed at the Time When it is Being Laid (Patented). Single sheet, 27 x 42 cm., sketching the coils of partially manufactured cable stowed aboard ship, plus the materials and methods needed to complete it aboard ship. [NY: Nov. 1859]; No. 4. Improved Funnel Shaped Boiler for Coating Submarine Cable (Patented). Single sheet, 27 x 20 cm. An illustration of the boiler containing the pitchy compound used in the cable's construction. [NY: March 1859]. All folded, all crisp and clean. The first attempt at a transatlantic cable across the Atlantic was begun in 1854 and completed in 1858. Although a few transmissions were made, speed and quality were poor and it failed entirely within three weeks. Horstmann, in his circular makes reference to this failure, noting defects in the materials used and in the cable's construction. "I think it is very generally admitted now, that gutta-percha is neither a very good non-conductor, nor absolutely waterproof." He also takes issue with the twisting of the wires. Horstmann's new design used shellac as a covering for the copper wire, followed by alternate layers of pitchy compound and cotton cloth, all bound up by a wrapping of twine. The U.S. Patent office granted him a patent on Sept. 13, 1859, numbered US25414A, for "Constructing and Laying Telegraph Cables."
In a story in the New York Daily Herald on June 20, 1862 entitled "Submarine Telegraph Cables - Progress of American Invention," Horstmann defends his part in the development of the underwater cable. He states that he exhibited a sample of his invention at the Merchants' Exchange in May and June, 1860, which he "enumerated in a circular at the time...." He also states that on Dec. 7, 1860, "he laid a cable of this description across the Mississippi, at Vicksburg, and in May last another one across the Hudson, at West Point." The author of the newspaper article takes issue with some of Horstmann's claims, noting that both the distances he says his cable was used for were fairly short and that a cable of similar construction was mentioned on "page 601" in Mr. Shaffner, of Kentucky's "Telegraph Manual," published in 1859, "of which kind several were laid in 1853, and some of them are being worked at the present time." [A reference to this work, and the very specifically cited page 601, shows Shaffner was using gutta-percha on his Mississippi River cables.] Clearly the attempts at creating this new form of underwater communication were a contested subject.
A second unsuccessful attempt at a transatlantic cable was made by Cyrus West Field and the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1865 but eventually completed in July 1866. (Inventory #: 70117)