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The loose technical notes and drawings constituting this collection cover the years 1873-1878. They relate to a variety of subjects, including telegraphy, electric lighting and power, the electric pen and duplicating press, the telephone, and the phonograph. There are also documents pertaining to various other subjects, such as carbon rheostats, acoustic devices, the tasimeter, and the voltameter. Many of the notes and drawings are by Edison. Also appearing as authors or witnesses are laboratory employees James Adams, Charles Batchelor, George E. Carman, William Carman, Alex Craig, Jr., Charles P. Edison, Martin N. Force, John Kruesi, Samuel D. Mott, John F. Ott, and Charles N. Wurth. Some of the notes and drawings were copied into Experimental Researches, Volumes 4-6 (Cat. 996-998 in the Notebook Series).
Among the documents for 1874 are notes and drafts for a proposed book by Edison on telegraphy and electricity. These can be found in Telegraph -- Notes and Essays (NS-74-002). Similar material can be found in Unbound Notes and Drawings, NS-74-001 and NS-Undated-005; in Laboratory Scrapbook, Cat. 297; in Laboratory Notebook, Cat. 30,099; and in Laboratory Notebook, Cat. 1176. The items for 1877 include a drawing of the phonograph containing the inscription "Kreusi Make This Edison August 12/77." Although this was once considered to be the drawing from which John Kruesi constructed the first phonograph, the evidence suggests that the inscription was added at a later date. Included among the notes and drawings for 1877 and 1878 are facsimiles of phonograph drawings prepared for use as exhibits in American Graphophone Company v. Edison Phonograph Works. There is also a folder of patent tracings for 1878 pertaining to the sextuplex telegraph and the telephone.
The unbound notes and drawings are organized by year and within each year by subject. Undated notes and drawings, organized by subject, follow the dated material. A considerable number of the notes and drawings were discovered after the publication of Thomas A. Edison Papers: Part I (1850-1878) and were subsequently published in the Supplement Series of Part II or Part III. These have been integrated into their appropriate places in the digital edition. For the Part III items, there is also an editorial note at the bottom of the image, identifying its proper place in the sequence of microfilmed images. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.