The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

This collection, which covers the years 1878-1957, contains correspondence, laboratory notebooks, technical drawings, scrapbooks, account books, patent lists, litigation records, printed matter, and other documents relating to inventor Edward Weston. The selected documents cover the period August 1884-June 1885, with a few additional items from 1886. They relate primarily to competitive tests on dynamos and incandescent lamps at the International Electrical Exhibition of 1884, which was sponsored by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Among the correspondents are Weston and other representatives of the United States Electric Lighting Co., including George W. Hebard, George B. Prescott, Jr. and Alex P. Wright. There are also letters to and from Francis R. Upton of the Edison Lamp Co.; William D. Marks of the University of Pennsylvania, who was the chairman of the examining committee on lamp tests; and William Penn Tatham, president of the Franklin Institute, under whose signature a report on incandescent lamps was issued on July 8, 1885. The documents contain eyewitness reports of the conduct of the tests and negotiations regarding the rules of testing and selection of judges. Included is Weston's protest against the appointment of Professor Thomas C. Mendenhall as a judge, along with other objections relating to the testing procedures and the allegedly premature and distorted publication of findings in favor of Edison's lamps. Also included is a copy of an article from the Newark Call (August 3, 1884) describing the works of the United States Electric Lighting Co., as well as an illustration from the Cincinnati Enquirer (July 25, 1886) entitled "The Decadence of the Wizard of Menlo Park -- From the Phonograph to Polyform." The collection was unprocessed at the time the documents were edited. The selected items, some of which are incomplete, are arranged in chronological order. Among the Edison-related items not selected are duplicates of documents at the Edison National Historical Park; partial records of patent interferences; and laboratory notebooks containing lamp tests and calculations. Other unselected documents include a report on the Duane Street Station switchboard of the Edison Electric Light Co. of Philadelphia and descriptions of central stations at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth, New Jersey, and various sites in New England. Also not selected are the records of the Newark Electric Light & Power Co., including trial balances, customer statements, and an inventory of real estate and equipment.