[The following note describes a series of notebooks and has no document records attached to it. For that reason, a "no Documents found" message will appear if the "List Documents" button at the bottom of the note is used. To see the records in the notebooks described here, use the "Which Series Notes?" button to enter the Series Notes or use the "Next Text" button to move to the first item in the series.]
The six groups of notebooks (sixty-nine books) in this subseries cover the period 1914-1924. The first three groups pertain to phonograph records. The notebooks in Group 1 are numbered 1-26 and relate to efforts to improve the quality of Edison disc records. The eleven notebooks in Group 2 describe a variety of experiments to improve the disc record manufacturing process, particularly the plating baths, and to solve problems with current electroplating. Group 3, consisting of twenty notebooks, is arranged into two subgroups. Seven books by Absalom M. Kennedy contain daily records of experimental work with phonograph recorders and reproducers. The experiments in the remaining books involve the use of various types of recorders and horns—as well as variations in the positions of horns, recording machines, instruments, and voices—in order to determine the optimum volume and quality of sound.
The three notebooks in Group 4 were used during World War I for experimental work for the U.S. Navy and other war-related research conducted under the auspices of Edison. Group 5 contains data on battery cell tests performed at Edison’s request, while Group 6 consists of two books of miscellaneous experiments. Among the Edison employees whose work is represented in these books are Walter N. Archer, E. Rowland Dawson, William Deans, William Walter Dinwiddie, William A. Hayes, Archiebald D. Hoffman, Absalom M. Kennedy, Sherwood T. (Sam) Moore, Harold H. Smith, George J. Werner, and Henry G. Wolfe.
The fifty-six notebooks with evidence of Edison's involvement or oversight have been selected. The thirteen unselected books contain no substantial comments by Edison or references to his work. The books are arranged in the following order:
