Part Of: Special Collections Series -- Charles Batchelor Collection -- Unbound Documents

[MB04-F] Charles Batchelor Collection (1881)

[This note covers the entire Batchelor Collection -- Unbound Documents.]

The correspondence, technical notes, and other unbound documents in the Batchelor Collection relate primarily to Batchelor's work with Edison during the period 1878-1898. Included among the correspondence from 1878 are a substantial number of letters about the phonograph, which are similar to those found in the "Edison, T.A. - Advice" folder in the Document File Series. Many of the documents from the 1880s pertain to Batchelor's activities as manager of the Edison electric light interests in France (1881-1884) and as manager of the Edison Machine Works (1884-1888). The correspondence from the 1890s is mainly concerned with Batchelor's stock holdings. Important correspondents include Edison, Francis R. Upton, Jay Gould, Henry Villard, and Cyrus W. Field.

There is also a substantial amount of technical material, much of it in Edison's hand. Included are notes and drawings relating to electroplating and thermoelectricity experiments (1879), designs for a portable photometer (1883), and ore milling experiments (1898). There are also some drawings of the Gamier engine; notes and charts on lamps, mostly from the lamp factory in Paris; generator tests; and an undated chart on dynamos, listing specifications of the various models.

Included also are agreements and other documents relating to the Edison Phonograph Works; a bond and mortgage for property owned by Batchelor in Newark, New Jersey; Batchelor's 1875 citizenship papers; a memoir by Batchelor, written about 1905, concerning Edison's early work on incandescent lighting during the fall of 1878; and agreements by Edison for rights to his electric pen, phonograph, and telephone, along with additional agreements concerning royalties owed to Batchelor for his assistance in developing these inventions. There are some financial documents, mostly relating to Batchelor's personal finances. These include statements of his accounts (1881-1889) and a promissory note (1884). Other financial material concerns the finances of the Edison Phonograph Works (1889 and 1897) and inventories from the lamp factory in Paris (1882-1884).

The following categories of documents have not been selected: routine lamp tests (1883-1885); Batchelor's stock certificates (1884-1900); personal and business correspondence after 1900 unrelated to Edison; correspondence among members of Batchelor's family and other family-related documents; correspondence and other documents relating to Batchelor's role as executor of the estate of John Kruesi; routine documents such as forms, circulars, formal invitations, and undated newspaper clippings.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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