Samuel Colt (1814-1862) first patented his 'Colt' revolver in 1835 and quickly redefined the architecture of handguns. This stunning book traces the evolution of Colt's most famous invention and examines his ambition for artistic excellence as well as his fascinating personal life, industrial foresight, and marketing savvy. "Samuel Colt" is the first book to examine in depth the complex relationship between art and commerce as they relate to the inventor's career. Colt designed his revolvers with an artistic sensibility, paying particular attention to form and beauty and juxtaposing contrasting colours and finishes to heighten the visual effects. He was also a ruthless advertiser and one of America's first manufacturers to use art as a marketing tool. Essays discuss Colt's extraordinary personal collection of firearms, now housed in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Unpublished documents reveal Colt's constant battles to protect his patents and show how he commissioned letters of endorsement from the celebrities of his day to promote his arms. Richly illustrated and beautifully produced, this volume presents the artistry of the guns whose design and manufacture Colt worked so diligently to perfect, as well as his clever self-promotional abilities that had such a tremendous impact on American culture.