Samuel Colt (1814-1862) first patented his 'Colt' revolver in 1835. This book traces the evolution of Colt's invention and examines his ambition for artistic excellence as well as his personal life, industrial foresight, and marketing savvy. It examines the relationship between art and commerce as they relate to the inventor's career

• Foreword: Willard Holmes
• Herbert G. Houze
• Acknowledgments: Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser
• A Connecticut Yankee courts the world / Carolyn C. Cooper
• Samuel Colt: arms, art, and invention / Herbert G. Houze
• Note for the reader
• Samuel Colt: arms, art and invention
• The development of firearms up to Samuel Colt's time
• From navigator to arms designer, 1814-1836
• The Paterson era, 1836-1841
• Samuel Colt in New York, 1841-1846
• Hartford and success
• The emergence of the metallic cartridge era
• Counterfeits, infringements, and competitors
• The memorial collection assembled by Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt
• Samuel Colt's South Meadows armory
• Samuel Colt and the world
• Epilogue: no new thing under the sun
• George Catlin and the Colt Firearms Series / Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser
• Appendix One: Colt Family Tree
• Appendix Two: Patents, patent reissues, and caveats issued to Samuel Colt and Elisha K. Root