The Papers of Thomas A. Edison

FAIN: RQ-50750-13

Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8559)
Paul B. Israel (Project Director: December 2012 to June 2016)

Preparation for publication of two volumes (completing volume 8 and beginning volume 9) of the papers of inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931), covering the period 1885-1889. (36 months)

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison is a fifteen-volume book edition that will contain 6,500 transcribed and annotated letters, notebook entries, autobiographical writings, and other documents from Edison’s lengthy career. This proposal seeks funding to complete Volume 8: New Beginnings (1885–1887) and to begin work on Volume 9: Competing Interests (1888–1889). These volumes cover Edison's return to full-time research, the building and start of operations of his largest research and development laboratory, and his changing family situation as he marries his second wife, Mina Miller, daughter of a cofounder of the first Chautauqua Sunday School Assembly, and starts a new family. Among the major themes will be Edison’s threatened position in the American electric power industry and his diversified research agenda, which includes basic scientific research in electromagnetism, new telecommunications projects, electric light and power, audio technology, ore milling and motion pictures.

Associated Products

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison, Volume 8: New Beginnings, January 1885-December 1887 (Book)
Title: The Papers of Thomas A. Edison, Volume 8: New Beginnings, January 1885-December 1887
Author: Thomas A. Edison
Editor: Daniel J. Weeks, Assistant Editor and Volume Editor
Editor: Paul B. Israel, Director, Editor, and Volume Editor
Editor: Louis Carlat, Associate Editor and Volume Editor
Editor: Theresa M. Collins, Associate Editor and Volume Editor
Editor: Alexandra R. Rimer, Assistant Editor and Volume Editor
Abstract: From Publisher's Listing: Two decades after the American Civil War, no name was more closely associated with the nation’s inventive and entrepreneurial spirit than that of Thomas Edison. The restless changes of those years were reflected in the life of America’s foremost inventor. Having cemented his reputation with his electric lighting system, Edison had decided to withdraw partially from that field. At the start of 1885, newly widowed at mid-life with three young children, he launched into a series of personal and professional migrations, setting in motion chains of events that would influence his work and fundamentally reshape his life. Edison’s inventive activities took off in new directions, flowing between practical projects (such as wireless and high-capacity telegraph systems) and futuristic ones (exploring forms of electromagnetic energy and the convertibility of one to another). Inside of two years, he would travel widely, marry the daughter of a prominent industrialist and religious educator, leave New York City for a grand home in a sylvan suburb, and construct a winter laboratory and second home in Florida. Edison’s family and interior life are remarkably visible at this moment; his papers include the only known diary in which he recorded personal thoughts and events. By 1887, the familiar rhythms of his life began to reassert themselves in his new settings; the family faded from view as he planned, built, and occupied a New Jersey laboratory complex befitting his status. The eighth volume of the series, New Beginnings includes 358 documents (chosen from among thousands) that are the most revealing and representative of Edison’s work, life, and place in American culture in these years. Illustrated with hundreds of Edison’s drawings, these documents are further illuminated by meticulous research on a wide range of sources, including the most recently digitized newspapers and journals of the day.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/papers-of-thomas-a-edison/oclc/17951299&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/papers-thomas-edison-6
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Access Model: Book
Publisher: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 9781421417493
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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