[D8724AAO], Letter from John Blair to Thomas Alva Edison, November 3rd, 1887
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Title
[D8724AAO], Letter from John Blair to Thomas Alva Edison, November 3rd, 1887
Editor's Notes
"You will please excuse me for taking the liberty of communicating with you as the subject at issue is one of great importance not only to you but to the world. ## I am one who -- being an invalid has been experimenting upon the problems of converting the energy of carbon into (I mean coal) electricity; I have at last after severn years hard study succeeded in obtaiing an electric current directly from Anthracite Coal -- the power derived being nearly equal to that obtained from zinc: taking an equal weight of each. ## Now, I am a helpless cripple and cannot upon this account fully develop my discovery and would like to give you the crude principle to work out to perfection. ## Suppose that I fully satisfied you with what I could do in this matter, i.e. generate a current of dynamo-electricity froma piece of coal -- and nearly as strong as from zinc -- would you purchase my right? ## Of course I could not venture to write down a description of said process as it has cost me too much mental & physical pain to arrive even at the crude state of perfection to which I have brought it. ## Be kind enough to let me hear from you and oblige" Marginalia in TAE's hand: "Say That it has already been done in France by Paul Jabelkoof and another man but then economy was not sufficiently high for practical use -- also that I have so many things on my hands I could't possibly take the matter up"
Author
Recipient
Mentioned
Date
1887-11-03
Type
Folder/Volume ID
D8724-F
Microfilm ID
119:741
Document ID
D8724AAO
Publisher
Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University