Lot 284: CARNEGIE, ANDREW

CARNEGIE, ANDREW Typed letter signed ("Andrew Carnegie"), 1 page (10 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.; 267 x 202 mm) on personal letterhead, New York, 3 February 1891, to Thomas A. Edison ("Dear Wizard"); faint browning at edges. Brown buckram portfolio.

Two of the titans of American industry discuss the potential manufacturing applications of nickel. "Nickel properties are getting as plentiful as blackberries, we shall have plenty of that material; a little of it goes a great way. We shall know all about it before long. It certainly does seem to give remarkable properties to steel; but except for armor-plate, the extra cost is an obstacle to its use; about four cents per pound. This is more than steel itself costs; but perhaps you will discover a means of reducing the cost."

At the time he wrote this letter, Carnegie was just beginning to refit his Homestead foundry to fulfill a contract to produce 6,000 tons of nickel-steel armor for the United States Navy. About a decade later, Edison was awarded several patents for battery systems that utilized nickel.