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Comprehensive archive of 25 documents containing meeting minutes from "Edison Phonographs, Limited," "Phonographs, Limited," and the "Edison Phonograph Distributing Company," all signed by Thomas Edison, "Thos. A. Edison," totaling 62 pages, 8 x 11, dated from April 13, 1917, to March 9, 1926.
The documents pertain to general business matters, including the lease of office space, resignations and appointments of board members, the firm's purchase of certain personal assets from Thomas Edison, accounting reports, an outline of the company's by-laws, a record of the name change from "Phonographs, Limited" to "Edison Phonograph Distributing Company," the issuance of shares in the organization, items pertaining to interstate commerce, and various similar matters.
Other signers throughout the archive include his son, Charles Edison, and other company officers including Stephen B. Mambert, William Maxwell, Harry F. Miller, Henry Lanahan, J. W. Robinson, John V. Miller, and H. H. Eckert. In overall fine condition, with mounting remnants to the edges of some documents.
In 1877, when Edison invented the phonograph, the first device for recording and playing back sound, he thought that its main use would be to record speech in business settings, which could then be played back and transcribed. Beginning to improve upon the phonograph and recording media in the 1880s, Edison pioneered the use of wax cylinders as a means of sound recording and reproduction. Edison's phonograph would eventually be adopted primarily for entertainment purposes, bringing music into millions of American households.
A holder of over 1,000 patents, Edison considered the phonograph to be his favorite invention. This archive offers an exceptional, first-hand record of the corporate management and evolution of Edison’s phonograph enterprises during the final decade of his career, with each document bearing Edison’s signature in an official business capacity.
