Thomas Edison collection: Finding Aid
Finding aid prepared by Laura R. Rips.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical
Gardens
© 2014
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Title: Thomas Edison collection
Dates: 1877-1985
Collection Number: mssEdisonThomascollection
Creator:
Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva),
1847-1931
Extent:
3 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The bulk of this collection is made up
of historical and modern ephemera related to Thomas Edison. It also contains some of
Edison's correspondence, patents, and original and reproduced photographs of Edison
and his associates.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with
the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Thomas Edison Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Burndy Library Collection, Gift of Dibner Family, November 2006. Was MS
Collection 8.
Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) is probably the best known American inventor of all time. His most
famous invention was the light bulb, but he also invented the phonograph and the
first practical storage battery, along with dozens of other impressive devices, for
a total of 1,093 patents during his lifetime.
The collection is made up of correspondence, patents, photographs, and ephemera. The
correspondence includes some original and contemporary copies of Edison's letters
regarding the Phonoplex System of Telegraphy, the Edison Phonograph Toy
Manufacturing Co., the use of paraphenylenediamine to manufacture phonograph
records, the American Fine Arts Society, and the Society for Electrical Development,
as well as a letter dismissing Charles H. Davids from his post as superintendent of
the West Orange laboratory. There are additional items from the Edison-Bell
Phonograph Corporation, Ltd. in England, as well as correspondence between Mina
Miller Edison and Lester A. Grimes regarding a signed apron made from Thomas
Edison's shirt, also included in the collection.
The collection also contains some original and reproduced photographs of Edison and
his associates (many with captions by Francis Jehl, Edison's laboratory assistant),
and his Bronx movie production studio. There are also photographs of Charles Edison,
as well as Bern Dibner with Richard G. Berger, another laboratory assistant for
Edison. The bulk of the collection is made up of historical and modern ephemera,
including advertisements, clippings, pamphlets, and prints. There are also three oil
paintings of Edison, one of which is signed by illustrator Howell Dodd.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three boxes by item format:
Box 1 contains correspondence, autographed notecards, patents, photographs,
prints, and historical ephemera.
Box 2 contains historical and modern ephemera.
Box 3 is oversize. It contains miscellaneous ephemera, oil paintings of Edison,
and photographs.
Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva),
1847-1931
Berger, Richard G.
Dibner, Bern
Dodd, Howell
Edison, Charles A.,
1890-1969
Edison, Mina Miller,
1865-1947
Grimes, Lester A.
Jehl, Francis, 1860-1941
Edison-Bell Consolidated Phonograph
Company, ltd.
Thomas Alva Edison
Foundation
Electric lighting - History
Motion Pictures - United States -
History
Phonograph - History
Correspondence
Patents
Photographs
Printed ephemera
Box 1
Correspondence, patents, photographs, prints, and historical ephemera
Box 2
Historical and modern ephemera
Box 3
Oversize
Folder 3