$4,113
Rare Repeating Telegraph Disk Signed by Thomas A. Edison, 1880, the white card with spirally embossed dots and dashes, spindle hole in center and signed, dated, and inscribed in ink Recorded in the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison Tuesday 5/13/80 , 6 1/2 x 6 3/4 in., (partially mounted on card, two corner tears) Provenance: Formerly in the collection of the late George Frow, England.. During the late 1860s and 1870s, most of Edison's work revolved around improvements to telegraph equipment or ancillary instruments. His first major invention was the Universal Stock Printer (itself an improvement on earlier gold and stock tickers), and this was followed by, among others, the automatic and multiplex telegraphs, the Electric Pen and the carbon telephone transmitter. Unlike most inventors, Edison and his team did not always work on one invention at a time, but often a few at the same time or went back and forth between ideas. However, it is fair to say that they learned from each project and often incorporated ideas from previous experiments and inventions into later ones. Such is the case with the Phonograph. The idea did not just occur to Edison to wrap some tin foil around a revolving cylinder and shout some words into it and presto: Record the human voice. There are a couple of stories as to how Edison did get inspired to record sound, and each of them probably have some validity, considering the many thoughts swirling around in his head. One tale has him experimenting with a t Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2003-05-03
