Illustration of the Bell Telephone pictured in Du Moncel's Le Telephone, published in 1882. Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) inventor of this telephone system filed a patent in 1876, but his priority as absolute inventor was questioned by Elisha Gray of Western Electric who similarly filed a patent on the same day 14th February. After long litigation, Bell won the most valuable patent ever issued in the US". In the original telephone system (seen here) the speaker & receiver were of identical construction."