[This note covers the entire Bates Manufacturing Co. Records.]

These records cover the period 1892-1927. They consist of legal documents, correspondence, and financial records. Many items relate to agreements between the Bates Manufacturing Co., its stockholders, and the Edison Phonograph Works. Included is Edison's 1895 proposition for revisions in the 1892 agreement. There are also documents pertaining to Edwin G. Bates's patent assignments; the cancellation of the 1890 agreement between Insull and Bates; and the sale of company stock to the Edison Phonograph Works. Other items include annual reports to the Comptroller of New York State, some copies of minutes from trustees' and stockholders' meetings, and a list of stockholders. There are also letters concerning of the company's accounts and financial condition, stockholders' resolutions regarding foreign patents and personnel matters, Insull's investment in the company, and the controversy over Bates's continued manufacture and sale of machines through the Bates Machine Co. of Brooklyn. A finding aid is available at the Edison National Historical Park.

Approximately 30 percent of the documents have been selected. The following categories of documents have not been selected: announcements of meetings, election ballots, proxies, routine contracts for services, and duplicate items. The selected documents for 1892-1898 appear in chronological order.