Selden Automobile
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Creator: Unknown
Form/Genre: Photographic print
Date: Unknown. Patent model was built in 1890s
Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder 1
The original United States Patent Office model of the Selden automobile, 1879-1895. This patent model of the George B. Selden gasoline automobile was submitted in 1879. He was granted a patent in 1895. Around 1906, and not in 1887 as is so often thought or implied by automotive historians, a full-sized version of this vehicle was built as an exhibit for the court while the famous Selden patent suit was underway. It was, however, powered by Selden's original engine built in the 1870's. (Widder, p. 200).
United States Patent Office
Historic Images of the Smithsonian
Another image can be found in Widder, Robert B., A PICTORAL TREASURY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1966, p.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder 1
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
Unknown. Patent model was built in 1890s
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91-3697
Color: Black and White; Size: 10w x 8h; Type of Image: Object; Medium: Photographic print