[LB077-F] Letterbook, LB-077 (1908)
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Description
This letterbook covers the period June-September 1908. Most of the correspondence is by Edison, Harry F. Miller, and George A. Meister. Many of the letters relate to Edison's accounts with the Edison Portland Cement Co. and J. P. Morgan & Co. There are also letters pertaining to the design of molds and patterns for Edison's concrete house; Edison's continuing work on his alkaline storage battery; the manufacture of batteries by Sigmund Bergmann in Berlin, Germany; and production difficulties at the ore concentration operations in the Dunderland region of Norway. In addition, there are letters discussing a proposed audit of the National Phonograph Co. and several other Edison companies; a reduction of 50 to 60 percent in the labor force at the West Orange factories; a plan to use the phonograph to disseminate the speeches of Republican presidential nominee William Howard Taft; a bid to provide cement in special waterproof bags for the construction of the Panama Canal; and Edison's acceptance of the honorary presidency of the Electrical Exhibition of 1908 in New York City. There are also two letters from George A. Meister to the novelist Theodore Dreiser regarding interviews for a proposed article about Edison in the Delineator magazine. Among the items pertaining to family and personal matters are letters concerning Edison's health; his membership in clubs and societies; his charitable donations; and the upkeep of his winter home at Fort Myers, Florida.
The label on the front cover contains the following notation: "Thos. A. Edison, Personal Letter Book From-June 1st, 1908. To-Sept. 18th, 1908." There is an inscription on the spine with similar information. The spine is also stamped "7." The book contains 697 numbered pages and an index. Approximately 15 percent of the book has been selected.