Go to the source
It's important for the collector, just like the
journalist, to have a reliable source. Here are a few primary ones.
(April 1998)
Read any good lawsuits lately?
Did you know that Frank Lambert was working on a phonograph
in 1871, six years before Edison's tinfoil machine? How about an unpublished list of
7" Berliner records.
Lambert, Edison, Eldridge Johnson and the technicians of
the industry come alive in depositions filed in federal court.
You need to know the name of the plaintiff or defendant
and the approximate date of the lawsuit. Then visit a Federal Depository in the district
in which the lawsuit was filed. Or for a fee the government will do your scut work through
the mail.
Applying patents
"The present law is a constant temptation to
rascals," said Edison, who preferred to keep many of his processes as trade secrets
rather than as patents. Nonetheless, between 1877 and 1912 over 2000 patents were filed
relating to recorded sound.
Patents are indexed in a Patent Gazette, available in
most larger libraries. One hundred significant patents are illustrated in the Patent
History of the Phonograph, available from APM Press, 502 E. 17th, Brooklyn, NY.
Hidden holdings
Eldridge Johnson's private papers wound up at the University
of Wyoming, the result of a vacation in the 1890s. A lot of Berliner's papers are in the
Library of Congress.
Ask a reference librarian for a directory of manuscripts
and archives, which will show such unpublished holdings.
Tricks of the biographer
Birth and death certificates can be procured from a Bureau of
Vital Statistics or similar local agency. Death certificates can yield the names of
surviving relatives, while the date of death can lead to newspaper obituaries. In some
cases, biographers have gone so far as to learn who is paying for the upkeep of the grave.
The Edison Site
Donated by the Edison family to the National Park Service,
the Edison National Historic Site on Main Street in West Orange, NJ is a repository of
millions of records, housing everything from Edison's cancelled checks to his letters from
Mark Twain.
The documents are being microfilmed and published by the
Smithsonian. The next release in the 10 volume set should begin with the year 1877, the
first of the phonograph years.
Ephemera
Some machines like the Micrograph are known only through
their catalogues. Early catalogues weren't always dated, but can sometimes be dated if
they contain record releases. The rarest catalogue: April 1, 1892 North American
Phonograph Company.
Conventions
From 1890-93 the regional companies recorded the minutes of
their conventions.The records show figures such as the take from coin-ops and illlustrate
the bitter rivalry between Edison and Tainter. A few reprints of the 1891 convention are
still available from APM Press.
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