The American inventor Samuel Morse (1791-1872) spent decades fighting to be recognised for his key role in devising the electromagnetic telegraph. While he will always be remembered in the history of telecommunications, and for co-developing the code which bears his name, Morse started out as a painter and also involved himself in matters of politics over the course of his career. Published in 1914, this two-volume collection of personal papers was edited by his son, who provides helpful commentary throughout, illuminating the struggles and successes of a remarkable life. Volume 1 includes observations made in Europe while Morse studied painting. During the Napoleonic wars, he writes letters home describing the rising level of crime and social unrest in London, mentioning that he sleeps with a pistol. He is in London when Spencer Perceval is assassinated and later writes of meeting Turner, ‘the best landscape painter living’.