He published in a tiny journal that was only in print for a handful of years, which was read by very few people. Bell himself said that no one contacted him or

He published in a tiny journal that was only in print for a handful of years, which was read by very few people. Bell himself said that no one contacted him or even mentioned it to him until four years after its publish date, and that researcher only came across it by pure happenstance. The whole story is detailed in Becker's book; it's fascinating.