Great issue featuring Thomas Edison...
Item # 705874
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, New York, Feb. 27, 1909
* Inventor Thomas A. Edison cover
* Upgrades of "The Phonograph"
A great front page as it is entirely taken up with a full-figure photo of Thomas Edison at his laboratory, with inserts of: "The First Phonograph" as well as: "The Latest Edison Phonograph".
A related article inside takes nearly an entire page headed: "Impressions Of American Inventors--Thomas A. Edison".
Complete in 16 pages, a bit irregular at the spine from disbinding, a discrete library stamp at the top, a few older mends near margins, not affecting mentioned content.
Background: The features in this 1909 issue signify a pivotal turning point in cultural and technological history, capturing the exact moment recorded sound matured from a fragile scientific novelty into a commercially viable medium for mass home entertainment. By contrasting Edison's primitive 1877 tinfoil prototype with his latest 1909 machines—which debuted the four-minute Amberol cylinder and dual-reproducer combination gearing—the event documented a critical engineering breakthrough that finally allowed consumers to listen to complete, uninterrupted musical pieces rather than truncated, two-minute snippets. Culturally, this milestone represents the absolute zenith of the cylinder format during a cutthroat, turn-of-the-century "format war" against flat disc records, immortalizing Edison’s stubborn technological genius while marking the birth of the modern consumer electronics industry and the permanent democratization of global music consumption.
* Inventor Thomas A. Edison cover
* Upgrades of "The Phonograph"
A great front page as it is entirely taken up with a full-figure photo of Thomas Edison at his laboratory, with inserts of: "The First Phonograph" as well as: "The Latest Edison Phonograph".
A related article inside takes nearly an entire page headed: "Impressions Of American Inventors--Thomas A. Edison".
Complete in 16 pages, a bit irregular at the spine from disbinding, a discrete library stamp at the top, a few older mends near margins, not affecting mentioned content.
Background: The features in this 1909 issue signify a pivotal turning point in cultural and technological history, capturing the exact moment recorded sound matured from a fragile scientific novelty into a commercially viable medium for mass home entertainment. By contrasting Edison's primitive 1877 tinfoil prototype with his latest 1909 machines—which debuted the four-minute Amberol cylinder and dual-reproducer combination gearing—the event documented a critical engineering breakthrough that finally allowed consumers to listen to complete, uninterrupted musical pieces rather than truncated, two-minute snippets. Culturally, this milestone represents the absolute zenith of the cylinder format during a cutthroat, turn-of-the-century "format war" against flat disc records, immortalizing Edison’s stubborn technological genius while marking the birth of the modern consumer electronics industry and the permanent democratization of global music consumption.
Category: The 20th Century
Price
$138
100% Authentic: Original printing, never a reproduction.