| Author |
Title |
Description |
| ANDERSEN, Eva Wistoff, FRILANDER, Søren, & GØRICKE, Jan Hybertz: |
Den store søslange (The
Great Sea-Serpent) - Pictures from the infancy of
telegraphy
Available from the Post & Tele
Museum
|
Copenhagen, Denmark: Post & Tele Museum, 2004.
90 pp. Danish and English text.
Written to accompany the web-exhibition, The Great
Sea-Serpent traces the history of 150 years of
telegraphic communications within Denmark, and in the
wider context of worldwide links. |
| ANDERSEN,Sir James |
Statistics of Telegraphy
|
London: Waterlow & Sons, 1872. 121pp. Includes
diagrams of cables from many manufacturers of the
period. |
| Anon. |
An Act to incorporate and regulate the Atlantic
Telegraph Company, and to enable the Company to
establish and work Telegraphs between Great Britain,
Ireland and Newfoundland and for other Purposes
Summary of the Act
|
London: 27 July 1857; folio, I6 pp. An issue of
the original grant.
The full text of the Act was reprinted in The
Reports of the Committees of the Senate of the United
States, 1858. The report of the Committee on the
Judiciary, dated 9 June 1858, was in response to a
memorial of the Magnetic Telegraph Company requesting
the passage of a law to prohibit the establishment of
the Atlantic Telegraph Company in the United States,
and the response to this by the A.T. Company.
|
| Anon. |
Report of the Joint Committee Appointed by the
Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and
the Atlantic Telegraph Company to Inquire into the
Construction of Submarine Telegraph Cables; together
with the Minutes of Evidence and Appendix
Full text at Google Books
|
London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1861.
Folio; 44, 520 pp.; plates. Testimony of cable and
telegraph experts during Dec. 1859 to Sept. 1860. The
list of witnesses is a who's who of the cable
industry, and the volume contains much primary source
material on the early cable laying attempts.
I have tabulated the Index to Evidence,
which is a useful guide to the main content of the
Report.
|
| Anon. |
The Atlantic Telegraph: Its History, From
the Commencement of the Undertaking in 1854, to the
Return of the Great Eastern in 1865 |
First edition. London: Bacon & Co, 1865. 117
pp, 2 maps, foldout diagram of Great Eastern,
four tipped-in photographs. Written at the conclusion
of the unsuccessful expedition of 1865.
A third edition after the cable was successfully laid
and the 1865 cable retrieved and completed. |
| AVERY, John G. |
The Cable Ships of Turnchapel
Ordering information
|
Southampton, Beech Books
2004, 34pp. A short history of the cableships based at
Turnchapel, Plymouth. |
| BAINES, G.M. |
Beginner's
Manual of Submarine Cable Testing and
Working
|
New York: The Electrician Printing
& Publishing Co., 1903. 217pp.
Image courtesy of Jim Kreuzer |
| BALDWIN, Maurice S. |
A Break in the Ocean Cable
Image courtesy of Jim Kreuzer
|
Montreal: Dawson Brothers, 1877. 41 pp.
From a contemporary review: "Canon Baldwin, Rector
of the Parish of Montreal, and Canon of the Cathedral.
in this clear and impressive discourse, beautifully
works out the illustration of human sin resembling a
break in the cable of connection between earth and
heaven, and the work of Christ
viewed as a rejoining of the cable." |
| BELL, James & WILSON, S. |
Submarine Telegraphy: and other papers |
London: "Electricity", 1895. 63pp. A
practical book for practical men.
Info & image courtesy of Jim Kreuzer. |
| BEAUCHAMP, Ken |
History of Telegraphy
|
London: Institution of Electrical
Engineers, 2001. 413pp.
From mechanical systems through landline and submarine
cables to wireless telegraphy. An excellent overview
with much historical material and a detailed
bibliography for each chapter. |
| BLACK, Robert M. |
The History of Electric Wires and Cables |
London: Peter Peregrinus Ltd., 1983. Historical
development of both communications and power
cables. |
| BLAKE-COLEMAN, B.C. |
Copper Wire and Electrical Conductors - The Shaping
of a Technology |
Chur, Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers,
1992. 284 pp. A comprehensive history of copper wire in
its role as a conductor, with much information on its
use in submarine telegraphy. Includes an extensive
bibliography. |
| BLUNDELL, J. Wagstaff |
Manual of Submarine Telegraph Companies |
First edition: London: Bixon and Arnold, 1871.
64pp. Second edition: London: Published by the Author,
1872. 115pp.
Financial and technical details of the companies. |
| BODIE, James |
Observations on Telegraphic Cables |
Devonport: (ca. 1858). 9 pp. A proposal for
yarn-covered cable by one who served in the first
expedition. |
| BRANAGAN, J.G. |
The Story of the Bass Strait Submarine Telegraph
Cable 1859-1967 |
Launceston, Tasmania: Regal Publications, 1987. 44
pp. The history of the first submarine cable in the
southern hemisphere. |
| BRETON, Philippe, and De ROCHAS, Alphonse B. |
Théorie Mécanique des
Télégraphes Sous-Marins |
Paris: Dalmont et Dunod, 1859. 4, 72 pp.,
plates. |
| BRETT, John W. |
On the origin and progress of the oceanic electric
telegraph. with a few facts, and opinions of the
press
British Museum via Google Books
Copies at the King's College Library have this
addition to the title:
": to be extended with copies of charts,
soundings, and scientific detail."
|
London, W.S. Johnson, 1858. 104 pp. A documentation
of events from 1845 to 1858.
Note: The British Museum copy has no contents section
and totals only 97 pages, including the title page and
preface. |
| BRETT, John W. |
[On] The origin & progress of Brett's submarine
oceanic & subterranean electric telegraph. With a few
brief facts, and [the] opinions of the press.
e-rara: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich
|
London: 1858. 175 pp. Expanded edition of the book
above. Two copies viewed each have a manuscript title
page, each with slightly different wording, and no
publisher's imprint. |
| BRIGGS, Charles F., and MAVERICK, Augustus |
The Story of the Telegraph and a History of the
Great Atlantic Cable
Available from amazon.com
|
New York: Rudd & Carleton.1858. 255 pp. A
clear, contemporary narrative reproducing important
records. |
| BRIGHT, Charles |
Imperial Telegraphic Communication |
London: P.S. King & Son, 1911. 212 pp. Much
information on the All-British globe-circling telegraph
network. |
|
BRIGHT, Charles
|
Submarine Telegraphs, Their History, Construction
and Working
Full text at Google Books
|
London: Crosby Lockwood, 1898. 4to, 38. 744 pp..
plates. An elaborate, technical exposition by the son
of Charles T. Bright.
Reprinted in 1974 by Arno Press. |
| " " |
The Story of the Atlantic Cable |
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1903. 222 pp. A
clear account condensed from the above. |
| " " |
Submarine Telegraphy |
London: 1907; 31 pp. A historical review. |
| BRIGHT, Edward B. |
The Electric Telegraph by Dr. Lardner |
London: 1867; 10, 272 pp., 140 figs. |
| BRINE, Capt. Frederic |
Map of Valentia and the Atlantic Telegraph |
London: 1859. Folio. Shows the positions of ships
and cables of 1857, 1858. |
| BROWN, Frank .J. |
The Cable & Wireless Communications of the
World |
London: Pitman, 1927 (first edition, 148pp), 1930
(second edition, 153pp).
Mostly on cables, includes photographs of cable laying
and repair. |
| CAMERON, Duncan H. |
Submarine Telegraphy |
Scranton: International Textbook Company, c.1927.
83 pp, diagrams. Bluebooks 492. |
| CASPER, Louis |
Telephone and Telegraph Cables |
Scranton: International Textbook Company, 1928. 51 +
67 pp. Has a short but detailed section (with
diagrams) on the 1921 Key West to Havana
telephone cables, and a note on the New York to
Azores link, the first permalloy cable placed in
service.
|
| van CHOATE, S.F. |
Ocean Telegraphing
|
Cambridge, (Massachusetts): Riverside Press, 1865.
41 pp. By a proponent of a transatlantic route via
Bermuda. |
| CLARK, Latimer |
Experimental Investigation of the Laws which Govern
the Propagation of the Electric Current in Long
Submarine Telegraph Cables |
London: 1861; 50 pp., folio, plates. Evidence
before the Joint Committee of the Government and the
Atlantic Telegraph Company. |
| CLARKE, A. C. |
Voice Across the Sea |
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958. 15, 208 pp.
An account of submarine telegraph and telephone
lines.
Harper & Row: 1974, second edition, updated and
revised. |
| CLARKE, A.C. |
How the World Was One: Beyond the Global
Village |
New York: Bantam Books, 1992. 296 pp. A further
updating of Voice Across the Sea, including sections on
satellites and fiber optic cables. |
| Clarkson Research Services Limited |
Cable Lay & Maintenance Vessels of
the World
|
Clarkson Research Services Limited, 2006, 88 pp,
A4 softcover.
See full review.
|
| CLAYTON, Howard |
Atlantic Bridgehead |
London: The Garnstone Press, 1968.192 pp. Includes
a 75-page section on the Atlantic Cable. |
| COATES, Vary T. and FINN, Bernard |
A Retrospective Technology Assessment: Submarine
Telegraphy |
San Francisco: San Francisco Press, Inc., 1979. A
historical case study of the Atlantic cable of 1866,
and its consequences on society. |
| COOKSON, Gillian |
The Cable: The Wire That
Changed The World
|
Stroud: Tempus
Publishing, 2003.160 pp. + 32 pp. color plates. An
excellent new account of the cable story. See full
review.
|
| CORNELL, Alonzo B. |
History of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph |
Schenectady: 1894. 24 pp. A pamphlet of the paper
presented by Cornell at Union College on Jan 19,
1894. |
| CROUCH, Archer P. |
On a Surf-bound Coast:
or, Cable-Laying in the African Tropics |
London: Sampson Low, 1887. 338pp + 32pp
catalog.
An account of three months on a cable laying ship. Ship
and company names have been changed by the author, but
history shows that the company was the West African
Telegraph Company, promoted by the India Rubber, Gutta
Percha, and Telegraph Works Company. The book describes
the laying of cable from Bathurst in Portuguese Guinea
to Loanda in 1885-6. The cableships were
Dacia, Silvertown, and
Buccaneer.
The author also wrote a sequel, scanned (PDF) copy is
available.
The Gulf of Guinea Islands' Biodiversity Network has
more information on Crouch and his books. |
| D'ALIGNY, H. F.Q. |
Outline of the History of the Atlantic Cables |
Washington, Government Printing Office, 1868. 13
pp. A review by the U.S. Commissioner to the Paris
Universal Exposition of 1867. |
| DAVIS, L.J. |
Fleet Fire: Thomas Edison and the
Pioneers of the Electric Revolution
Available from amazon.com
|
New York: Arcade
Publishing, 2003. 350pp. A comprehensive and
entertaining history of electricity, including the
stories of Morse and Field and the Atlantic Cable. |
| DE GIULI, Italo |
Submarine Telegraphy - A Practical Manual |
London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd.,
1932. |
| DIBNER, Bern |
The Atlantic Cable |
Norwalk: Burndy Library, 1959. An excellent
overview of the story of the Atlantic Cable.
View the entire text of the book on line at the
Smithsonian Institution website. |
| DODD, George |
Railways, Steamers and Telegraphs |
London: W. & R. Chambers, 1867. 7, 326 pp. A
concise resume of the inter-woven story. |
| Du MONCEL, Th. |
Notice sur le Cable Transatlantique |
Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1869. 46 pp., 25 figs. The
cables' electrical characteristics. |
| DWYER, John B. |
To Wire theWorld
Perry M. Collins and the North Pacific Telegraph
Expedition
Available from amazon.com
|
Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2001. 183pp. From
the author's preface: "My goal was to tell the
story of this nineteenth-century, multicountry,
trans-Pacific adventure in its entirety, with a primary
focus on first-hand accounts of experiences in British
Columbia, Russian America, Siberia, and at sea, by
those who participated in exploring, surveying, and
building Western Union's North Pacific telegraph
line. |
| ELWOOD, Tony |
Ships of the Line: A History of Cableships
|
London, British Telecomms PLC, 1986, 32 pp. Written
to accompany an exhibition at the Telecom Technology
Showcase, London, January 15th - May 30th 1986. |
| FIELD, Cyrus W. |
The Atlantic Telegraph
(click on title to see full text)
|
London: 1856. 20 pp. The original prospectus. |
| " " |
Prospects of the Atlantic Telegraph |
New York: 1862. 15 pp. A paper read before the
American Geographical and Statistical Society. |
| " " |
The Atlantic Cable Projectors 1854-1895 |
New York: Press of the Chamber of Commerce, 1895.
35 pp. A report of the session of May 23d, 1895, in
which the painting by Daniel Huntington was presented
to the Chamber of Commerce. |
| FIELD, Henry M. |
History of the Atlantic Telegraph
Reprint available from amazon.com
|
New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1866 (367
pp.); 1867, (438 pp.); 1869, (437 pp.). The early
editions. |
| " " |
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Text of the 1898 reprint of the 1892 edition at
Gutenberg Project
|
London: Scribners, 1892, also 1893.
9, 415 pp., portrait, figures. This volume provided
the main source of the data used in Dibner's
monograph; it is a revised version of the author's
History of the Atlantic Telegraph, above.
|
| FINN, Bernard |
Submarine Telegraphy: The Grand Victorian
Technology
|
London, HMSO (Science Museum), 1973, 48 pp. |
| FORESTIER-WALKER, E.R. |
A History of the Wire Rope Industry of Great
Britain |
Federation of Wire Rope Manufacturers of Great
Britain, 1952. 162 pp.
Some useful background material on the wire rope
companies which became the first manufacturers of
submarine cables. Click here to read my article on this
topic.
See also these books:
200 Years of Richard Johnson & Nephew
The Iron Masters of Penns
Thomas Bolton & Sons
in the Company Histories section below |
| GARNHAM, Capt. S. A. and HADFIELD, Robert L. |
The Submarine Cable: The Story of the Submarine
Telegraph Cable from its Invention down to Modern
Times |
London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., ca.
1934. 12, 242 pp.; photos and figs. Cable history,
cable ships, cable laying and repair. 16 pages of
photographs and illustrations. |
| GARRATT, G. R. M. |
One Hundred Years of Submarine Cables |
London: Science Museum, 1950. 8, 60 pp. |
| GISBORNE, F.N. |
Automatic and Multiplex Telegraphy |
Trans. Royal Soc. of Canada, 1891. 4to.; 5 pp.,
plate. By the man who started it all.
Victoria University, Toronto, has the Gisborne
Archive
|
| GOLDSMID, Sir Frederick
John |
Telegraph and
Travel: A Narrative of the Formation and
Development of Telegraphic Communication Between
England and India, Under the Orders of Her Majesty's
Government, with Incidental Notices of the Countries
Traversed by the Lines |
London, Macmillan, 1874.
673 pp. including 3 maps, 2 folding, errata slip, 60pp.
publishers' catalogue at end. |
| GORDON, John Steele |
A Thread Across the
Ocean |
New York: Walker, 2002.
240pp. A new account of the early cable history. |
| No author listed |
Great North Atlantic Telegraph Route |
London: 1866. 48 pp. A prospectus favoring the
Iceland, Greenland route. |
| GRISCOM, George |
. Historical view of the art of electro-magnetic
telegraphing in connection with the telegraph cable,
and its insulation by gutta percha.
Available from amazon.com
|
Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1867. 40pp.
An argument addressed to the U.S. Senate Committee on
patents, etc., by George Griscom. In answer to the
arguments filed on behalf of G.B. Simpson's claims. A
long-running dispute on US cable insulation patent
claims. |
| GIUNTINI, Andrea |
Le Meraviglie del Mondo. Il Sistema Internazionale
delle Comunicazioni nell'Ottocento
[The wonders of the world. The international system
of communications in the nineteenth century]
Available from Istituto di Studi Storici
Postali
|
Italian language history of the beginnings of
worldwide communications. The author describes how
three major developments led to the rise of a global
economy by the end of the 19th century: the transport
of mail on steamboats, the cutting of the Suez Canal,
and submarine telegraphy. |
| HAIGH, K.R. |
Cableships and Submarine Cables
First edition cover image
Second edition cover image
|
London: Adlard Coles, 1968. 416 pp. A historical
survey of cable ships and cable companies, from the
1840s to the 1960s.
Second edition, London: Standard Telephones &
Cables Limited, 1978. 454pp. Some corrections to the
first edition, and updated through 1977. |
| HARCOURT, Edgar |
Taming the tyrant: The first one
hundred years of Australia's international
communication services |
Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1987. xv, 405 p., ill.,
map, ports.
Much of the first half of the book (175 pages) deals
with the establishment of landline and cable services
- a very detailed history.
|
| HARRIS, Robert Dalton and
DeBLOIS, Diane |
An Atlantic Telegraph: The
Transcendental Cable |
Schoharie, NY: The
Ephemera Society of America, Inc., 1994. 80 pp.,
quarto. |
| HEARN, Chester G. |
Circuits in the Sea: The Men, the
Ships, and the Atlantic Cable
Available from amazon.com
|
Westport, Praeger Publishers 2004,
280pp.
A detailed chronology of the Atlantic cable history
with extensive notes and bibliography.
See full review. |
| HIGGINSON, Francis, Lieut. R.N. |
Laying down the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, and
Sounding Ocean Depths
British Museum via Google Books
|
London, Partridge & Co., 1857. 39 pp.
A series of letters sent by the author in 1857 to
"the several authorities engaged in this great
undertaking" (the Atlantic Telegraph Company),
giving his views on taking soundings at great deptsh.
Only Higginson's size of the correspondence is
included.
The following entry appears to be a much-expanded
version of this booklet.
|
| HIGGINSON, Francis, Lieutenant R.N. |
The ocean, its unfathomable depths and natural
phenomena: comprising authentic narratives and
strange reminiscences of enterprise, delusion, and
delinquency: with the voyage and discoveries of Her
Majesty's Ship "Cyclops"
British Museum via Google Books
|
London, Edward Stanford, 1857, 202 pp.
Half-title: "The stirring narrative of an
attempt at laying down a transatlantic telegraph
cable."
HMS Cyclops made soundings for the 1857
Atlantic cable expedition under Lieutenant-Commander
Joseph Dayman. Higginson commented from the shore on
the events of the 1857 cable expedition, and is
critical of the Atlantic Telegraph Company throughout
the book.
|
| HOSKIAER, Capt. V. |
A Guide for the Electric Testing of Telegraph
Cables |
London: E. & F.N. Spon, 1873. 54pp, 10 figures.
Second edition 1879. 72 pp, 11 figures. Testing during
fabrication, installation, and in fault. The author was
a member of the Royal Danish Engineers. |
| " " |
Laying and Repairing of Electric Telegraph
Cable |
London: Spon, 1878. 8, 71 pp. |
| HOYT, Franklin Kaye |
The French Atlantic Cable 1869 |
Duxbury: 1982. 25 pp.. Published by the Duxbury
Rural & Historical Society and may be ordered
through the Society's website. |
| ITU |
Nomenclature des câbles formant le
réseau sous-marin du globe. Dressée
d'après des documents officiels par le Bureau
international de l'Union
télégraphique.
|
Berne: Bureau international de l'Union
télégraphique (ITU), 1910. 68 pp. 10th
edition. The "Berne List". Nomenclature of
the cables forming the underwater network of the globe.
Drawn up according to official documents by the
International Telegraphic Union. A list of the world's
submarine cables.
Image courtesy of Allan Green. |
| JENKIN, Fleeming |
Report on Electrical Instruments |
(London: 1862): 54 pp. The instruments at the
International Exhibition of 1862. |
| JOHNSON, George, Ed. |
The All Red Line - The Annals and Aims of The
Pacific Cable Project |
Ottawa: James Hope & Sons, 1903. 486 pp. |
| KIEVE, Jeffrey.L. |
Electric Telegraph - A Social and Economic
History |
Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1973. A history
of the British telegraph industry, with a chapter on
the Atlantic cable. |
| No author listed |
The Landing of the French Atlantic Cable at
Duxbury, Mass., July, 1869
The book has an interesting
inscription on the endpaper: "Saml. Lossing,
Duxbury. I was present at the landing of the Cable
and assisted in taking it on shore. S. Lossing.
|
Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, Printers, 1869. 57
pp., 6 tipped in photographs.
Images courtesy of the Ken Rosen
Image Archive
|
| LISTER, Raymond |
Private Telegraph Companies of Great Britain and
Their Stamps |
Cambridge: The Golden Head Press Ltd., 1961. 58pp.
Includes a useful history of each company, together
with details of the stamps. |
| McCARTHY, Michael, GALGAY, Frank, OKEEFE, Jack |
The Voice of Generations. A History of
Communications in Newfoundland |
St. John's: Robinson-Blackmore, 1994. A history
from the first telegraph line to the present time. |
| MACOMBER, George S. |
Modern Land And Submarine Telegraphy |
Chicago: American Technical Society, 1914. 89 pp.
59 illus. A brief up-to-date treatise on the electric
telegraph, including the development of modern methods
and equipment. |
| McCLENACHAN, Charles T. |
Detailed Report of the Proceedings Had in
Commemoration of the Successful Laying of the
Atlantic Telegraph Cable
Reprint available from amazon.com
|
New York: Edmund Jones, 1863. 4, 282 pp. A detailed
account of the 1858 New York celebration. |
|
[MANN, Robert. J].
|
The Atlantic Telegraph: A History of
Preliminary Experimental Proceedings and a
Descriptive Account of the Present State and
Prospects of the Undertaking
Click here for title page image
Full text at Google Books
Advertisement for the book
published in the Illustrated London News for
several weeks beginning 15 August 1857.
|
London: Jarrold and Sons, July 1857. 4, 70 pp. A
prospectus of the experiments and plans of the
company, published "by order of the
Directors"
This copy has the bookplate of Charles Wilkes,
Commander of the United States Exploring Expedition
1838-42) and is inscribed to him by Captain William
Hudson. Hudson was commanding officer of USS
Peacock under Wilkes, and of USS
Niagara during the 1857-58 Atlantic cable
expeditions.
Wildman Whitehouse, who was believed by many at
the time to have been the authorof this pamphlet,
wrote in an 1879 letter about it: “the details
of which were chiefly furnished by me though written
by another hand (Dr Mann) at the desire of the
Co.”
|
| No author listed |
Manual No. 3. Technical Equipment of the Signal
Corps |
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1917. |
| MARCOARTU, Arturo de |
Universal Telegraphic Enterprise. Telegraphic
Submarine Lines between Europe and America, and the
Atlantic and Pacific |
New York: 1863; 55 pp.; map. A proposal to girdle
the globe with cables. |
| MARLAND, E.A. |
Early Electrical Communication |
London: Abelard-Schuman Ltd, 1964. A history of
electrical communication from the invention of the
telegraph through the telephone, with a good section on
submarine telegraphy. |
| MAVER Jr., William |
American Telegraphy & Encyclopedia of the
Telegraph |
New York: Maver Publishing Company, 1912. 563 pp.
Reprinted 1997 by Lindsay Publications Inc. Perhaps the
best single book on telegraphy in general; includes a
chapter on submarine telegraphy. |
| MERRETT, John |
Three Miles Deep |
London: Hamish Hamilton, 1958. 191 pp.; 9
illustrations. The story of the transatlantic cables by
a cable-man who spent 23 years in transatlantic
telegraphy. |
| MIDDLEMISS, Norman L. |
Cableships |
Gateshead, England: Shield, 2000, 160 pp. Profile
drawings and short descriptions of all of them to that
point |
| MOLL, O |
Atlantic Telegraph Cables (Illustrated) |
London, Waterlow and Sons, 1896. 24 pp.
A short illustrated history of the early Atlantic
cables.
|
| MOLL, O |
Die Untersee-Kabel in Wort und Bild
Title page image
|
Cologne, Germany: Westdeutscher Schriftenverein,
1904.
Images courtesy of Bob Voss. |
| MOYER, Claire B. |
Ocean Cable Lore |
New York: Heath Cote Publishing Co., 1974. 58pp. A
brief survey of current cable-laying procedures, with
many illustrations. |
| MULLALY, John |
A Trip to Newfoundland: Its Scenery and Fisheries:
With an Account of the Laying of the Submarine
Telegraph Cable
Detail of cover
Title page
|
New York: T.W. Strong, 1855. 108pp. The first book
on what would become the Atlantic Cable project. |
| MULLALY, John |
The Laying of the Cable, or the Ocean
Telegraph
Reprint available from amazon.com
|
New York: D. Appleton, 1858. 329 pp. A detailed
report of the 1857 and 1858 cables by the correspondent
of the New York Herald, on board the Niagara. |
| NAIR, C.N.N. |
The Story of India's Overseas Communications |
Bombay: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd., 1988. 199 pp. A
general historical survey. with a small amount of
information on cables. |
| NEERING, Rosemary |
Continental Dash - The Russian-American
Telegraph |
Ganges, British Columbia: Horsdal & Schubart,
1989. xii + 233 pp. The history of the unsuccessful
competitor to the Atlantic cable. |
| NEWALL, R. S. |
Facts and Observations Relating to
the Invention of the Submarine Cable
(click on title to see full
text)
|
London: E & F.N. Spon, 1882. 8 pp. A case for
priority in the use of gutta-percha covered cable in
the Dover-Calais, 1851 line.
See also On Submarine Electric Telegraphs, by
F.R. Window, below. |
| OSLIN, George P. |
The Story of Telecommunications
Available from amazon.com
|
Macon: Mercer University Press, 1992. 507 pp.
Oslin, (1899-1996), was involved in telecommunications
for many years, and personally spoke to Thomas Edison,
to Martin Cahoon (who was on the Great Eastern's
Atlantic Cable laying voyage), to Morse's
grand-daughter, and many others. An excellent overview
of the field, currently available in paperback. |
| PARKINSON, J.C. |
The Ocean Telegraph to India: A Narrative and a Diary
Engravings of Daniel Gooch and John Pender
|
Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood, 1870.
328pp. An account of the Great Eastern's
laying of the cable from Bombay to Aden. |
| PRESCOTT, George B. |
History, Theory and Practice of the Electric
Telegraph |
Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1866. 508 pp.
Reprinted 1972 by Frank Jones, available from Artifax
Books. Another excellent single-volume reference to
telegraphy, with two chapters on submarine cables. |
| RONALDS, Sir Francis |
Catalogue of Books and Papers Relating to
Electricity, Magnetism, the Electric Telegraph,
&c. including the Ronalds Library
Full text at Google Books
|
London: E. & F.N.
Spon, 1880. 564 pp.
The catalogue contains over 13000 entries, comprising
not only the books, pamphlets, and other publications
in the Ronalds Library, but also the titles of all
other works on the subject of Electricity, Magnetism,
&c. which came to the notice of the compiler.
Sir Francis Ronalds died in 1873, and the Ronalds
Library,which comprises about 2000 volumes and 4000
pamphlets on electricity and magnetism, was transferred
in 1876 to the Society of Telegraph Engineers and
Electricians (later the Institution of Electrical
Engineers, and now the Institution of Engineering and
Technology). |
| ROWETT, W. |
The Ocean Telegraph Cable: Its Construction, the
Regulation of its Specific Gravity, and Submersion
Explained |
London: Sampson Low, Son &
Marston, 1865. 125 pp.. plates. The case for hemp
cable covering.
Image courtesy of Bob Voss
|
| RUNGE, Peter K. and TRISCHITTA, Patrick R.,
Eds. |
Undersea Lightwave Communications |
New York: IEEE Press, 1986. 621 pp. An early book
on fiber optic submarine cable technology. The editors
have compiled 43 technical articles on all aspects of
undersea fiber optic cables. |
| RUSSEL, Major Edgar |
Manual No. 4. Handbook of Submarine Cables of the
U.S. Signal Corps |
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905. |
| RUSSEL, Florence Kimball |
A Woman's Journey through the
Philippines: On a Cable Ship that Linked Together the
Strange Lands Seen en Route
Images of the Map
|
Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1907. 270 pp.
Folding map, 40 plates. The c. 1902 cable-laying voyage
of the US Army's cableship Burnside, by the wife
of Signal Corps Major Edgar Russel (see his book
above). The book is largely a travelogue of the
Philippine Islands, but contains some interesting
descriptions of cable-laying.
From the introduction: "Life on a cable-ship would
be a lotus-eating dream were it not for the
cable." |
| RUSSELL, W.H. |
The Atlantic Telegraph |
London: Day & Son, (1865). 4to; 4, 117 pp. With
26 magnificent lithographs. One of the prime books,
especially in describing the 1865 expedition. |
| SABINE, Robert |
The Electric Telegraph |
London: Virtue Brothers & Co., 1867. 12mo., 428
pp. The electrical equipment. |
| SABINE, Robert |
The History and Progress of the Electric Telegraph
with Descriptions of some of the Apparatus |
London: Virtue & Co., 1869, 14, 280 pp. Second
edition of the above book, "with
additions".
Lockwood & Co., 1872, 280 pp. Third edition
|
| SALVADOR, René |
Cabliers
(Cableships) |
(France), Les Editions Chourgnoux, 1991. 32 x 27
cm, 175 pp. A large format book on the French cable
industry, with text in French and English and
photographs by Jean-Marie Chourgnoux and Patrick
Godiniaux |
| (SAWARD, George) |
Deep Sea Telegraphs; Their Past History and Future
Progress
being A Series of Articles Recently Published in the
“Mechanics’ Magazine” and now Revised
and Enlarged by the Author. |
London: 1861; 48 pp. A review by the Secretary to
the Atlantic Telegraph Company, describing the failings
of earlier cables and their promoters and proposing
methods of improvement.
Click on the title for the full text. |
| SAWARD, George |
The Trans-Atlantic Submarine Telegraph: A Brief
Narrative of the Principal Incidents in the History
of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Compiled from
Authentic and Official Documents by the Late George
Saward Secretary to the Company
Full text available at the link above
|
London: Printed for private circulation, 1878; 4,
80 pp. A keen and factual account.
|
| SCHELLEN, Dr. Thomas Joseph Heinrich |
Das Atlantische Kabel (The
Atlantic Cable: its Manufacture, Laying, and
Working)
|
Braunschweig, Germany: 1867. 168 pp., 60
illustrations.
Book image courtesy of Jim Kreuzer |
| SCHENCK, Howard H. |
The World's Submarine Telephone Cable
Systems
(OT Contractor Report 75-2) |
Washington, Government Printing Office: 1975. 291
pp. A survey of repeatered submarine telephone cables
in service as of 1974, created for the US Department of
Commerce, Office of Telecommunication.
First edition. A second edition was published in 1980,
and a third in 1990. |
| SCHREINER, George Abel |
Cables And Wireless and Their Role in the Foreign
Relations of the United States |
Boston: Stratford Co, 1924. 269 pp. Two folding
maps.
The book is concerned mostly with policy and politics,
but the appendices give useful details of the world
cable industry, with 35 pages on cables and
companies. |
| SCOTT, R. Bruce |
Gentlemen on Imperial Service |
Victoria: Sono Nis
Press, 1994. 131 pp. A Story of the Trans-Pacific
Telecommunications Cable, told in their own words by
those who served.
|
| SELWYN, Capt. J.H. |
Explanation of the Floating Cylinders for Laying
Telegraphic Submarine Cables |
London: T. Piper, c. 1860. 18pp.
Info & image courtesy of Jim Kreuzer. |
| SHAFFNER, Taliaferro P. |
Memorial of Tal. P. Shaffner of Kentucky, praying
for an amendment of the act of Congress approved March
3, 1857, entitled "An act to expedite telegraphic
communication for the uses of the government in its
foreign intercourse," so that the subsidy granted
by the said act shall be general in its application to
all Atlantic ocean telegraph lines. |
Washington, DC: 35th Congress, 1st Session, Senate
Mis. Doc No. 263, 1858. 46 pp. disbound. Shaffner
planned a northern overland/submarine telegraph route
in competition to Field's proposal, and was attempting
to get the US government to fund it. |
| SHAFFNER, Taliaferro Preston. |
The Telegraph Manual: A Complete History and
Description of the Semaphoric, Electric and Magnetic
Telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa and America, Ancient
and Modern. |
New York: Pudney & Russell, 1859; 851 pp.,
portraits. A technical manual by the proponent of the
Northern telegraph route. Contains a good overview of
the state of submarine telegraphy at the time of
publication. |
| SHIERS, George |
Bibliography of the
History of Electronics |
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow
Press, 1972. 323 pp.
The original version of the volume following. |
| STERLING, Christopher H.
and SHIERS, George |
History of Telecommunications Technology - An
Annotated Bibliography
Available from amazon.com
|
Lanham, MD and London:
The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2000. xii + 333 pp.
An essential work for the collector or researcher of
communications history.
Christopher Sterling has updated and more tightly
focused George Shiers' pioneering 1972 bibliography of
the communications field.
The book has a comprehensive listing of submarine
telegraphy source material from 1855 through today -
technical books, company histories, biographies,
magazine articles, websites. Other sections of the book
include telephony, electromagnetic waves, radio,
electron tubes, television, and newer media.
Highly recommended. |
| SHIMURA, Seiichi., Ed. |
International Submarine Cable Systems |
Tokyo: KDD Engineering and Consulting, Inc., 1984.
509pp. A text on modern submarine cable systems. |
| SIEMENS, C. William |
The Scientific Works of C. William Siemens
Partial table of contents
|
London: John Murray, 1869, two volumes. Vol. II
contains several papers on telegraphy and cables |
| SIMONTON, J. W., and FIELD, Cyrus W. |
Atlantic Cable Mismanagement |
New York: 1871. 24 pp. About favoritism in
scheduling messages. |
|
SMITH, Willoughby
|
A Résumé of the Earlier Days of
Electric Telegraphy
Full text at Google Books
|
London: 1881. 56 pp. In English and French, by a
participant of the 1865 and 1866 expeditions.
Originally presented as a paper at the Extraordinary
General Meeting of the Society of Telegraph Engineers,
held on Thursday, September 22nd, at 8.30 p.m., in the
Electrical Exhibition, Palais de l'Industrie,
Paris. |
| " " |
The Rise and Extension of Submarine
Telegraphy
Cover detail 1
Cover detail 2
Author's inscription
Full text at Google Books
|
London: J.S. Virtue & Co., 1891. 4to.; 13, 390
pp., plates. Reprinted New York, 1974, Arno
Press.
|
| SOLOMON, Louis |
Voiceway to the Orient |
New York: McGraw Hill, 1964. 64pp. The laying of
the first US - Japan Telephone Cable. Some good
photographs of cable-laying equipment, and a prescient
quote from 1964: "Some day, in the as yet
inestimable future, a laser beam may simultaneously
transmit more messages than all existing wires and
radio waves put together". |
| STEPHENS, J.H., Ed. |
Text Book on Telegraph Cable Engineering, Volume
II: Construction and Maintenance of Submarine Cables
and Land Lines |
London: Eastern Associated Telegraph Companies,
1927. 812 pp. Includes chapters on cable manufacture,
laying, and repairing. |
| SUTTON, Richard (Reporter) |
The Arguments in Favor of the International
Submarine Telegraph in the Senate of the United
States |
Washington: Printed at the Congressional Globe
Office, 1857. 16pp.
Info and image courtesy of Jim Kreuzer. |
| TARRANT, D.R. |
Atlantic
Sentinel. Newfoundland's Role in Transatlantic Cable
|
St. John's, Newfoundland: Flanker Press, 1999. The
history of submarine cable communications in
Newfoundland from 1856 to the present. |
| THOMSON, William |
Atlantic Telegraph Cable - The Forces Concerned in
the Laying and Lifting of Deep-sea Cables
Full text of the paper
|
London: William Brown, 1866. 12 pp. An address
delivered before the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
December 18th, 1865.
Another edition of 31 pp. includes appendices.
Image courtesy of Bob Voss |
| TUCKER, Eleanor M. |
Laying the First Deep Sea Cable Between Cuba and Key
West
Detail
of cover illustration
|
Los Angeles: Bedrock Press, N.D. (author's
inscription dated 1954). 53pp.
The author's father was a 14-year-old cabin boy on the
1867 Dacia cable expedition between Havana,
Cuba, and Key West, Florida, and later told his story
to his children. His daughter, Eleanor Tucker (who
wrote Gospel stories under the name "Aunt
Eleanor") re-tells his experiences in this book
for young people. She intersperses stories of the cable
laying with religious homilies, but if one can ignore
the heavy-handed moralistic interjections this short
work does present an interesting picture of life aboard
an early cable ship. |
| VIERUS, Dieter |
Kabelleger aus aller Welt |
Berlin: Steiger, 1989, 148pp. Photos and
descriptive text (in German) of past and present cable
ship. Also includes sections on the equipment and
methods of early cable laying, with illustrations. |
| (WEST, Charles) |
The Story of My Life. By the Submarine Telegraph
Click here for title page image
Full text at Google Books
|
London: C. West, 1859. 96 pp. An anonymous, biting
review of the early history of submarine
telegraphy.
Images courtesy of Bob Voss |
| WEAVER,
William D. |
Catalogue of the Wheeler Gift of Books, Pamphlets and
Periodicals in the Library of the American Institute
of Electrical Engineers [two volume set]
Full text at Internet Archive
Further details of the Wheeler Gift Collection may
be read here
|
New York:
AIEE, 1909. 504 & 333 pp.
The catalogue of the library of Josiah Latimer Clark,
of Westminster, Eng., purchased in 1901 by Schuyler
Skaats Wheeler, and presented by him to the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers. Mr. Andrew Carnegie
donated the fund to house, catalog and complete the
collection.
The collection was dispersed in 1995; part is now at
the New York Public Library Linda Hall Library of
Science, Engineering & Technology. |
| WHITEHOUSE, Edward O. W. |
Report of a Series of Experimental Observations on
Two Lengths of Electric Cable, Containing, in the
Aggregate, 1,125 Miles of Wire
Full text available at the link
above
|
Brighton 1855. [23 pp.
5 plates. Wheeler Gift #4539. Whitehouse’s
self-published pamphlet containing the full text of his
British Association paper. |
| WHITEHOUSE, Edward O. W. |
The Atlantic Telegraph: the Rise, Progress, and
Development of its Electrical Department
Full text available at the link above
|
London: 1858. 28pp.
Wheeler Gift #1433: “Introduction of
gutta-percha, effect of induction, cable
troubles.” |
| WHITEHOUSE, Edward O. W. |
Reply to the Statement of the Directors of the
Atlantic Telegraph Company
Full text available at the link above
|
London: 1858. 27 pp. Stamp, Carlton
Club. A defense after his discharge by the
company. |
| WHITEHOUSE, Edward O. W. |
Recent Correspondence between Mr. Wildman
Whitehouse and the Atlantic Telegraph Company with an
Appendix Containing Every Telegram and Letter for
Reference
Full text available at the link above
|
Published by the author, 1858. A
follow up to Whitehouse’s Reply to the
Statement (above). |
| WILKINSON, H. D. |
Submarine Cable Laying and Repairing
Full text (second edition) available at
archive.org
|
London: "The Electrician"
Printing and Publishing Company Ltd.
1896 first edition. 15, 406 pp.
1908 second edition, 557pp. |
| WINDOW, Frederick Richard |
On Submarine Electric Telegraphs |
London: Institute of Civil Engineers, 1857. 40 pp.
Principally an engineering discussion of the early
cables, but raising questions of priority, later
rebutted by R. S. Newall. See Newall's Facts and
Observations Relating to the Invention of the Submarine
Cable, above. |
| WINDOW, Frederick Richard |
The Atlantic, and South Atlantic, Telegraphs |
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1859. 32pp + map. A
pamphlet published in February 1859 after the failure
of the 1858 cable, written by "A Member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers", revealed in the
text as F.R. Window. While describing itself as an
impartial review of possibilities for future cables,
the pamphlet is, in fact, a proposal for a cable on the
South Atlantic route. |
| WINSECK, Dwayne R and PIKE, Robert M |
Communication and Empire: Media, Markets, and Globalization, 1860-1930 |
Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2007. 429 pp., softcover
Available from amazon.com
|
| WÜNSCHENDORFF, E. |
Traité de
Télégraphie Sous-marine |
Paris: Librairie Polytechnique, 1888;
4to.; 14, 556 pp., 469 figs. A technical treatment for
the engineer. Charles Bright's 1898 book Submarine
Telegraphs was "founded in part" on this
work. |
