Part Of: Notebook Series -- Unbound Notes and Drawings

[NS7703-F] (NS-77-003) Phonograph

[The first paragraph of this note covers all of the Unbound Notes and Drawings for Part I.]

The loose technical notes and drawings constituting this collection cover the years 1873-1878. They relate to a variety of subjects, including telegraphy, electric lighting and power, the electric pen and duplicating press, the telephone, and the phonograph. There are also documents pertaining to various other subjects, such as carbon rheostats, acoustic devices, the tasimeter, and the voltameter. The unbound notes and drawings are organized by year and within each year by subject. Undated notes and drawings, organized by subject, follow the dated material.

This folder contains notes and drawings signed by Edison, James Adams, Charles Batchelor, George E. Carman, Martin N. Force, and John Kruesi. Included is a drawing containing the inscription "Kreusi Make This Edison August 12/77." This was once considered to be the drawing from which Kruesi constructed the first phonograph. However, the evidence suggests that the inscription was added at a later date. It does not appear on the reproduction of the drawing in William K. L. Dickson's biography of Edison, published in 1894, nor on the reproduction in James U. MacKenzie's obituary in the Electrical World in 1895. This folder also contains facsimiles that were prepared for use as exhibits in the case of American Graphophone Company v. Edison Phonograph Works. These appear after the original notes and drawings.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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