More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art

Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791–1872) to Elizabeth Breese
20 and 22 Jan. 1827

Well-known as the inventor of the telegraph, Samuel Morse was one of America’s most prominent 19th-century painters and was a founder and the first president of the National Academy of Design in New York City. Before falling asleep one night, he attempted to “doze out” a letter, punctuated by small sketches of himself—snoozing in a chair, mouth open, eyes shut, limbs limp—and the next morning lurching awake, wide-eyed and dazed.

Courtesy Smithsonian Archives of American Art