Historical Communication Devices

A collection of 19th-century printing telegraphs, engines, and relay systems illustrating early communication technology and inventions, with detailed engravings.

Petroleum engine developed by Otto, historical, digitally enhanced reproduction of a model from the 19th century.
Petroleum engine developed by Otto, historical, digitally enhanced reproduction of a model from the 19th century.
342 assets in this story
1788-22075301
Compound motor with dynamo, power 240 hp, produced by Ernest Scott & Mountain, Newcastle, United Kingdom, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1901.
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Illustration depicting a double-acting steam engine. Dated 19th century
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A photograph of a photographic Zenith Tube. This vertical telescope is used at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux, for determining the time by the stars. Dated 20th century
1788-22075214
Spherical turbine, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1893.
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Astronomical Observatory. Telescope of the Paris observatory, France. Europe. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1890
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Engraving depicting the siderostat of the horizontal telescope. Dated 20th Century
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Cross section through the smoke box, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1861.
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Hydraulic mechanical toy, 1657.
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A pyrometer: shown in and out of its box. Engraving, mid eighteenth century.
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Apparatus for demonstrating the deflection of cathode rays by magnets, 1880, Germany, Historic, digital reproduction of an original 19th-century model, Europe
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The music recording melographer placed on an organ by M. Roncalli. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Ilustración Artística 1882
1899-70725868
Salsomaggiore weather station: Richard four-way anemograph, wind speed recording device.
1746-111319886
Captain Jekyll's portable vapour bath which he carried with him on his travels. Woodcut, London, 1833.
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Huhn smoke consuming device applied to a water pipe boiler, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1903.
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Egrot still burner during distillation. Old 19th century engraving from La Nature 1887
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Skiopticon image from the Department of Photography at the Royal Institute of Technology. Use by Professor Helmer Bäckström as lecture material. Bäckström was Sweden's first professor in photography at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm 1948-1958.Two projectors for 16 mm film from Agfa and Zeiss.
1746-29953976
Engraving depicting a Mansfield domestic gas light apparatus. Dated 19th century
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An engraving depicting Thomson's current indicator (top) and Bergmann's current indicator (bottom) used in the Edison system. Dated 19th century
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An engraving depicting the process of distilling brandy. Dated 19th century
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Deacon device to detect water leaks. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1884
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Calculating machine designed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642 when he was nineteen years old. It could perform addition and subtraction.
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Transparency - Experimental Thermo Lab, Macdonald Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, about 1901
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Electrophysiological experiments by Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval (1851-1940) French physician and physicist. Apparatus for the elementary study of the properties of the oscillatory current and for the demonstration of imoedance. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1893
6145-46710295
Skiopticon image from the Department of Photography at the Royal Institute of Technology. Use by Professor Helmer Bäckström as lecture material. Bäckström was Sweden's first professor in photography at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm 1948-1958.Musgers Kinematograph with mirror drum.
1788-22075307
Double-action pump, Express Schleifmuhle system, produced by Ehrhardt & Sehmer, Saarbrucken, Germany, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1902.
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Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar, Punjab, India: incubator room showing three incubators. Photograph, 1897.
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ANTOINE-LAURENT LAVOISIER French chemist & founder of modern chemistry. Depicted determining the composition of the atmosphere. Date: 1743 - 1794
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Interior view of Edisons chemical telephone. Originally published 1879 in Scribners Magazine. Interior view of Edisons chemical telephone. Originally published 1879 in Scribners Magazine. Copyright: xZoonar.com/J.xSandvikx 3636732
1848-54718223
Telegraphy receiving station, woodcut, 1888
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Double wall hot air sterilizer, vintage engraved illustration.
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The phonautograph, an early recording device, invented by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville, 1857.
1788-22075378
Electrically heated brick stove, illustration from L'Industria, Rivista tecnica ed economica illustrata, Milan, 1910.
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Breast distension, an illustration from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, an encyclopedia from 1897
1746-29961462
An engraving depicting an apparatus for making ices, using ammonia salts and water. Dated 19th century
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Skiopticon image from the Department of Photography at the Royal Institute of Technology. Use by Professor Helmer Bäckström as lecture material. Bäckström was Sweden's first professor in photography at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm 1948-1958.jenkins Kinematograph with continuously running filmband and a series of rotating lenses.
4220-21883351
DANIELL CELL Invented in 1836 by John- Frederic Daniell, English chemist and physicist, using zinc and copper.
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Gramophone advertisement, Battery Motor Gramophone, circa 1880s.
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The caption for this 1891 images reads: Eliza Howe and the First Sewing Machine. Elias (also spelled eliza) Howe Jr. (1819 -1867) was an American inventor best known for his creation of the modern lockstitch sewing machine.
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Triple Tier Machine Gun; Re-construction from a drawing by the Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
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Old autographometer. An instrument which registers the topography of surfaces over which it is rolled. Old illustration from La Nature 1887
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Thomas Alva Edison's first Phonograph (1878). In this model the cylinder on which the sound was recorded had to be rotated by hand. Instrument in recording mode. The horn fitted for playing back recording is on right. From cigarette card published 1915. Chromolithograph
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The Westinghouse "Ignitron" tube was designed to register fast-moving objects Date: circa 1936