The 30 Minute Rule begins September 16 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By September 16 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
LS signed “Thomas A. Edison,” one page, 5.5 x 8.5, personal ‘From the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison’ (Orange, New Jersey) letterhead, March 19, 1889. Letter to Col. George E. Gourand: “Permit me to introduce to you Mr. Emile Durer. He desires to make some arrangement with you regarding the phonograph.” In very good to fine condition, with light creasing and soiling, and short splits to the ends of the intersecting folds.
By early 1889, Thomas Edison was focused on the commercial introduction of his perfected wax-cylinder phonograph from his recently established West Orange laboratory. Following the completion of the improved phonograph in 1888, Edison expanded its manufacture and distribution through domestic and international representatives while preparing exhibits for the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, marking one of the busiest periods in his effort to establish the phonograph as a worldwide commercial success.
The recipient, Colonel George E. Gouraud (1842–1912), served as Edison's principal representative for the phonograph in Great Britain and much of Europe, acquiring the foreign rights to market the improved phonograph in late 1888 and overseeing its introduction abroad through demonstrations, exhibitions, and licensing. The introduced party, Émile Dürer, was a French author whose 1889 biography Edison: Sa vie—Ses œuvres, esquisses américaines chronicled the inventor's life and work.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$150.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
Third-party authentication service applies only to signatures and handwriting, and does not cover the addition of sketches, artwork, musical quotations, etc.
