[The first paragraph of this note covers the entire Miscellaneous Legal File for Part III.]

The documents in this file relate primarily to the phonograph. Many of the items pertain to the legal affairs of the various Edison companies, including the Edison Phonograph Works, the North American Phonograph Co., the Edison Phonograph Toy Manufacturing Co., the Edison United Phonograph Co., and the Automatic Phonograph Exhibition Co. Included also are items pertaining to electric lighting, ore milling, and motion pictures. Some family-related material, especially regarding the estate of Mary Stilwell Edison, can also be found in this file.

Among the documents for 1888 are lengthy depositions by Edison and by Jesse Lippincott concerning Edison's dispute with Ezra T. Gilliland and John C. Tomlinson. Also included is an agreement between Edison and Henry Villard giving the financier an interest in twenty-three of Edison's proposed inventions.