Part Of: Edison General File Series -- 1918

[E1860-F] (E-18-60) Motion Pictures

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the technical and commercial development of motion pictures in the United States and other countries. Among the items for 1918 is a legal consent form for the sale of Edison's motion picture business to the Lincoln & Parker Film Co. The form is signed by the stockholders of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., including Edison, his wife Mina Miller Edison, his son Charles Edison, and company officials Stephen B. Mambert, Harry F. Miller, and Carl H. Wilson. Other documents pertain to legal issues involved in the acceptance of Lincoln & Parker stock. Also included is a letter from Andrew Holland regarding the first public exhibition of Edison's peephole Kinetoscope in Ottawa, Canada, along with a facsimile of his 1894 letter to the Holland Brothers. A letter by Edison's assistant William H. Meadowcroft discusses the origin of the term Kinetophone for Edison's combined projector-phonograph and mentions the absence of any photographs of the machine.

Less than 20 percent of the documents have been selected. Most of the unselected items are unsolicited ideas for improvements in motion picture technology or for stories and subjects to be filmed. These letters received routine replies stating that Edison was no longer in the business or giving some other excuse.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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