Try to imagine yourself as one of Thomas Alva Edison's closest assistants. The world-renowned inventor beckons you, and a few of your colleagues, into his darkened laboratory. You pensively crowd around a wooden table. All eyes focus on a small glass globe. This is the moment of truth. The air is thick with breathtaking anticipation and the constant hum of an electrical current. Edison blows out the gas lamps, turning the room to pitch black, then whispers an inaudible prayer. Suddenly, the self-contained object begins to glow. The faces that surround you are awash in a luminescence that is completely foreign to you. Everyone stares at this mysteriously futuristic, slightly frightening little sunburst—it's a coil on fire, it's Prometheus unbound! You and your colleagues smile, hoot and holler, click your heels with exuberance. Edison's face is as expressive as you have ever seen it. He is laughing and crying, his tears illuminated by the light of his greatest creation.

This is how many of us imagine that seminal moment in world history, when Thomas Alva Edison revolutionized the way people live. His patented light bulb was arguably the single greatest invention of the past 150 years. Some would contend that it was one of the most earth-shattering inventions in history, even rivaling the wheel! And it's a difficult position to dispute, considering that lights are a constant fixture in our lives. We may not ponder the miracle every time we switch one on and off, but full appreciation engulfs us whenever there's a blackout, as we're digging out the candles and gas lamps. Today, the light bulb has come to represent more than simply artificial sunlight. Having transcended its original function, the light bulb is the universal symbol for creative genius—the icon, for example, that appears in the ether above cartoon characters who have just had the epiphanic idea of a lifetime. When Thomas Edison patented the light bulb, he created the archetypal definition of what it means to invent.

Presented here is the actual patent application for the light bulb that Thomas Edison sent to the Governor General of India on August 11, 1883! With his American patent secured, the inventor set his sights on the world. He submitted individual patent applications to governments of countries that might have the technology to develop the incandescent bulb—and thereby deprive Edison of the royalties entitled to him. This unique specimen is titled "The Petition of Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park, New Jersey, United States of America for leave to file a specification under Act No 15 of 1859 of the Legislative Council of India," and flamboyantly signed in black fountain pen, "Thomas Alva Edison." Incredibly, Edison was so eager to sign this application, his trademark cross of the "T" spans a full four inches and slices through the paper with laser precision for its entire arching length! Now that's a signature with authority! He also initialed the margin beside a portion of the text where corrections were made. Otherwise, the two-sided document (7-7/8" x 12-3/4") is written in another hand. It is miraculously preserved, bearing only a few small edge tears and minor soiling at bottom center, none of which impinges in the least bit upon the pristine signature area. All writing is darkly and clearly scripted, grading "10", including Edison's supremely impressive signature specimen. Accompanying the patent application is an identically dated, similarly sized, and similarly well-preserved letter of Edison's intermediary in India, Arthur St. John Carruthers, which served to verify the legitimacy and signature of the great inventor's application (a transcript of Carruthers' letter can be viewed on our website). This patent application was kept on file in the country of India during it's 14 year enforcement where manufacturers of Edison's new invention were required to pay him and his laboratory residual fees. When the 14 year patent term expired, this document was no longer valid, and so returned to Edison's laboratory office in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

For those of you hoping to see the American patent application show up on the auction block, it's going to be a long, even eternal wait. The American version rests institutionalized: it will never see the light of day. What we are offering here is the finest available alternative. Any Edison-signed document pertaining to the light bulb is hungered for in the market today. This exquisite piece is, understandably, the pinnacle acquisition of its genre. Its sheer existence in private hands, alone, is difficult to register in one's mind, as the item would merit a vaunted display location at any number of national museums, among them the Menlo Park Museum or the Smithsonian Museum of American History. This is the historical gem that will illuminate even the most elite Edison collection, leaving all competition obscured in darkness. This piece is displayed in a custom archival frame along with vintage photographs of Edison, a detailed plaque, a printed schematic diagram of his light bulb, and an original 1800’s magazine advertisement for his new invention: The Light Bulb! This exquisite piece of World History is considered one of the most significant finds to be made available to the private sector. It comes complete with a Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA - as well as JSA, and is housed in an elegant black leather slipcase with an embossed image of a light bulb on the cover, and embossed lettering on the spine that reads, “Patent Application for Electric Light Bulb” - Thomas Alva Edison - Signed”

The full text of the patent explanation reads as follows: "That your Petitioner has obtained Her Majesty's Letters Patent, dated the 29th day of December 1882 and numbered 6206 for 'Improvements in incandescing conductors for electric lamps and in moulds for the carbonization of the same,' and that such Letters Patent are to continue in force for fourteen years, that your Petitioner believes that the said Invention is not now and has not hitherto been publicly known or used in India. The following is a description of the Invention - The Invention relates to a flexible carbon filament for an incandescing electric lamp, formed of a number of separate continuous filaments consisting of natural vegetable fibres, secured together, and each capable of independent expansion and contraction. The Invention also relates to a mould for the carbonization of straight filaments, having a moveable block or blocks for the reception of one or both ends of the filament and allowing for contraction during the operation. Your Petitioner therefore prays for leave to file a specification of the said Invention pursuant to the provisions of Act No 15 of 1859 of the Legislative Council of India. And your Petitioner will ever pray etc. The twenty third day of June, 1883. Thomas Alva Edison (signed)."

The following is the transcript of Carruthers' accompanying letter: "I Arthur St. John Carruthers of 10 Government Place East in the Town of Calcutta Solicitor do solemnly and sincerely declare that I have been appointed by Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park New Jersey, United States of American an Inventor his agent for the purpose of applying for and obtaining from the Government of India an exclusive privilege or Letters Patent for 'Improvements in incandescing conductors for electric lamps and in moulds for the carbonization of the same' and I verily believe that the declaration purporting to be the Declaration of the said Thomas Alva Edison annexed to the Petition was signed by him and the contents thereof are true. Dated this 11th day of August 1883."

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