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Thomas A. Edison Collection
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Thomas Alva Edison profoundly influenced modern life through such inventions as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention. During his lifetime, he acquired a record 1,093 patents; most of these inventions, however, were not completely original but, rather, improvements of earlier patents and works of his numerous employees. Edison also founded the journal Science, which in 1900 became the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence, both original and photocopies, of Edison. Correspondents include Pierre F. Cook, John G. Hibben, N. H. Holland, Robert Mountsier, and Gaston Tissandier. There is also an undated photograph of his laboratory.
Arranged by accession number.
The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.
Edison's correspondence with N. H. Holland (and related material) was a gift of William Morris. Various AM.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
Finding aid written by James Flannery on February 7, 2006. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager '2015 in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2006
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
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