Manufactured by Horace Smith & Daniel B. Wesson in Norwich, Connecticut c. 1854, this early production, large frame pistol has distinctive Type I features which include: frame with pronounced hump behind the hammer, flat muzzle, flat T-bar spring, and single lever spring screw. The barrel has an integral 10-shot magazine with round, slotted follower and brass pinch-top front sight blade. The top barrel flat has the two-line legend: "PATENT/SMITH &WESSON/NORWICH CT./CAST-STEEL". The iron receiver has the distinctive loading lever with finger hole and spur found on early No. 2 pistols, screw-fastened fixed rear sight and hammer with fine knurling on the spur. The two-piece rosewood grips have flared butts. The receiver sides, top, back strap and sideplates and the back of the hammer are decorated with the open scroll engraving that was standard on S&W No. 2 lever action pistols. The serial number is stamped on the left side of the butt beneath the grip and penciled on the inside of the left grip. No serial number is visible on the inside of the right grip. The back of the rear sight is numbered "66". The mismatched serial number on the rear sight is a factory assembly error and the serial number on the right grip is obscured by oil stains on the inside of the grip. S&W manufactured fewer than 500 large frame, .41 caliber, lever action pistols and original examples are very scarce. Provenance: The Dr. Gerald Klaz Collection