The author of this book, Franklin (Frank) Leonard Pope, was a renowned American telegrapher and electrical engineer. He began his career as a local telegraphist, employed by the American Telegraph Company in his home town of Great Barrington, Mass. He came to the notice of Marshall Lefferts, engineer-in-chief of that company, who, impressed by Pope's obvious skills and competence, transferred him to New York and promoted him to assistant engineer. Later in life he became assistant engineer and chief-of-exploration to the Collins Overland Telegraph Expedition, which attempted to establish a telegraph line through the wilderness of Canada and Alaska to the Bering Strait. The intention was to link with a Russian line to Moscow and thus establish communications between America and Europe. The successful laying of the Atlantic cable by Cyrus Field rendered the scheme redundant when it was about one third completed, and it was abandoned at enormous cost. In 1868 Pope began to write this book. He intended it to provide a complete handbook for the average American telegraphist and electrician and also for aspiring students. On its first publication it received glowing reviews from both industry and the general press. The first edition sold out in four weeks. Subsequently it went through fifteen reprints up to 1895, and it was adopted as a text book by the United States Signal Service. Pope's clarity of description and the use of his own practical experiences helped many readers to understand the basic principles of telegraphy, and to develop their own skills in the esoteric art of electric communications.