Part Of: Notebook Series -- Notebooks by Edison and Other Experimenters -- Recorder and Recording Experiments -- A.M. Kennedy Books

[NA354-F] N-15-10-21 (1915-1916)

This notebook is a continuation of N-15-09-17. It was used by Absalom M. Kennedy during October-November 1915 as a daily record of experiments and tests with phonograph recorders and reproducers. An additional entry from May 1916 appears at the end of the book. The tests involve various recording machine parts and instruments, as well as variations in the positions of instruments, recording horns, and reflecting screens. Also included are tests of cylinder records reproduced from disc masters. Some of the entries describe other work by Kennedy, such as training Diamond Disc demonstrators and preparing for a showing of "The Birth of the Telephone," a kinetophone film about Alexander Graham Bell. Some of the tests performed by Kennedy were based on Edison's direct instructions, including a series of horn and recorder tests described in N-15-11-19 (Recorder and Recording Experiments -- Miscellaneous Books). The notes indicate that Edison listened to several of the recordings and gave comments and further instructions and that some of the work was done to assist William Walter Dinwiddie and Miller Reese Hutchison. Other individuals involved in the experiments include E. Rowland Dawson, Clarence B. Hayes, Charles W. Luhr, R. H. Simpson, George J. Werner, and experimenters named Cook, Smith, and Taylor (probably Henry A. Taylor). The front cover is labeled "Recording Experiments Book #6 From Oct. 21, 1915." The pages are unnumbered, and several pages have been removed from the book. Approximately 60 pages have been used.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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