This folder contains correspondence and other documents covering a variety of subjects. Some of the material relates to personal matters. Also included are documents that deal with more than one subject, such as a letter about both the phonograph and the telephone. Documents concerning subjects that do not fall under the main subject categories (such as a letter about the aerophone) are also filed in this folder. In addition to correspondence, there are also a few circulars, clippings, and a check.
Approximately 99 percent of the documents have been selected. Duplicate copies of correspondence, third-party correspondence unrelated to Edison, and unanswered fan mail have not been selected. Unsolicited requests for personal favors, for loans and contributions to charities, for lectures and exhibits of inventions, and for information about Edison have not been selected except in cases where an answer has been found.
In addition to the documents originally published in the microfilm edition, there is also a telegram from the Joseph Henry Papers (National Museum of American History Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution), in which Edison responds to a telegram sent by Henry on April 16 inviting the inventor to demonstrate his phonograph and telephone before the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. The two telegrams were published as Doc. 1291 in The Papers of Thomas A. Edison, Vol. 4. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.