Inventor Hiram Maxim, Archive Relating to his Machine Gun

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Nov 18, 2016 - Nov 19, 2016

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• Lot Description
  Lot of 15+, comprised of letters, photographs, and ephemera related Hiram Maxim and the invention of the Maxim Gun, with additional items related to his son Hiram Percy Maxim and brother Hudson Maxim.
  
  Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim was born in Sangerville, ME, on February 5, 1840. He was the eldest son of a mechanic. Apprenticed at fourteen to a carriage maker, he demonstrated a talent for invention at an early age. He obtained the first of his 271 patents at the age of 26 for a hair-curling iron, and is credited with a multitude of other inventions including a mousetrap, steam inhaler, carbon filaments for electric light bulbs, steam and gas engines, automated sprinkler system, an aerial torpedo gun, and the “Captive Flying Machine.”
  
  It was following an 1881 move to England that Maxim designed his most famous invention, the Maxim Machine Gun. Legend holds that a friend exhorted Maxim to “Hang [your] chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others’ throats with greater facility.” This is exactly what Hiram Maxim accomplished with the Maxim Machine Gun.
  
  The world’s truly first automatic weapon, the Maxim Gun harnessed the recoil power of each bullet which served to continuously operate the machine gun mechanism. He later developed his own smokeless powder which maximized the gun’s effectiveness. With the founding of the Maxim Gun Company to produce his new weapon, Maxim was able to produce and market his weapon throughout Europe and Russia. By the time World War I waged the Maxim Gun Company was absorbed into Vickers, Ltd., but Maxim’s weapon had become the standard issue weapon of its type in the British Army and irrevocably changed the nature of combat.
  
  Hiram Maxim’s success was not without cost. Feuds with his brother Hudson Maxim, also an inventor, over the patent for smokeless powder and credit for the Maxim Gun created a permanent rift between them. A 1900 letter in this collection from Hiram to a journal editor demonstrates his frustration over the matter.
  
  During Maxim’s later years, he focused his inventive talent on the creation of flying machines. Despite some success in this area, he remained most recognized for his Maxim Machine Gun. In 1901, Queen Victoria bestowed a knighthood upon Maxim. He died in London on November 24, 1916, at the age of 76.
  
  The work and legacy of Hiram Stevens Maxim was continued via his son Hiram Percy Maxim. The younger Maxim is noted as the inventor of the “Maxim Silencer” for firearms. He was involved in the early years of the American auto industry, and as co-founder of the American Radio Relay League is considered a radio pioneer.
  
  Included in the collection are two small photographs of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, one with a possible date of 1906. There are three small collector cards from Ogden’s Cigarettes featuring Hiram Stevens Maxim’s image. Each measures approximately 1.5 x 2.25 in.
  
  Of particular note are three items signed by Hiram S. Maxim. The first of these is a typed letter dated Sept 17, 1900. In it Maxim writes to the editor of the Kennebec Journal (located in Central Maine) and addresses a simmering controversy with his brother. He begins with a vehement proclamation of his sole claim on the Maxim Gun and other inventions: Dear Sir, I am the Maxim who invented the automatic gun which is now in general use throughout the world. I am the Maxim who designed, made and patented the large gun for throwing aerial torpedoes for sinking ships at sea. I am the Maxim who the British Attorney General (Sir Richard Webster) said was the first man to combine nitroglycerine and gun-cotton in smokeless powder. These things have made my name well known throughout the world. He concludes by saying Two hours examination of the patents at the Astor Library will convince anyone of the truth of what I have said. I am the Maxim gun inventor, there is no other.
  
  Maxim drew and signed an illustration of the Maxim Machine Gun that he dated June 9, 1901. Autographed Hiram S. Maxim, the illustration is postcard sized and includes this comment next to the image of the gun and a human stick figure caught in its fire, Yours 600 times a minute. The final item with Maxim’s full signature is a paper measuring 4.5 x 7 in., and dated London, September 4, 1903. On it Maxim writes simply: “Eternal vigilance is the price of success.”
  
  Rounding out the items related to Hiram S. Maxim are two US Government-issued handbooks. The Handbook of the Maxim Automatic Machine Gun and the Handbook of the Colt Automatic Machine Gun were published in 1917 by the War Department. 
  
  Hudson Maxim is represented in the collection with a brief letter typed on his personal stationery. It is addressed to “The Art Editors” at Youth’s Companion, an American children’s magazine published in Boston. The letter is dated May 30, 1908, and contains his original signature. A large Hudson Maxim autographed photograph accompanies this letter though it hails from a later date. Measuring approximately 11.5 x 8.25 in., this photograph depicts an older Hudson Maxim and the blue ink inscription reads: To My Friend Theo J. King, Feb 2, 1926. With Supreme Regards and every wonderful wish/ Hudson Maxim.
  
  The magazine, Country Life in America, dated July 15, 1911, features an article by Hudson Maxim titled “Practical Uses of the Aeroplane in Commerce, Travel, and War” with photographs by the Pictorial News Co., Underwood & Underwood, H. C. Mann and others.
  
  The final items in the collection represent Hiram Percy Maxim. Included is a letter from Cecil Powell, Secretary-Manager of The Maxim Silencer Company, dated September 26, 1921, and addressed to Dr. A. T. Leonard, Jr. of San Francisco, CA. Powell references a booklet and catalog in the letter which are included in this collection. The small booklet is entitled “Experiences with the Maxim Silencer” and includes a forward by Hiram Percy Maxim. “The Maxim Silencer” catalog with price list is stamped as property of Walter J. Howe Licensed Gunsmith from New York, NY.
  
  A letter to Mrs. Leslie Harwood of Wayne, Maine, and an accompanying photograph are also included. The postage stamp on the letter’s envelope indicates it originated in Boston in 1951, however, due to illegible handwriting the sender’s name is undetermined. In the letter, the author describes the photograph and appears to mark its date as 1890. Handwritten on the back of the photograph is the following notation: Hiram Maxim, His mother, Sam his brother, His wife, Taken near the lake. The photo depicts Hiram Stevens Maxim and these family members posing with a Maxim Machine Gun and is in good condition

  Condition

  The Handbook of the Maxim Automatic Machine Gun and the Handbook of the Colt Automatic Machine Gun were published in 1917 by the War Department. Neither handbook has retained its cover. Several pages have come lose from the binding on the Colt Automatic manual.
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