[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.]

This group of twenty notebooks covers the years 1914-1924; most of the books were used before 1918. The books are arranged into two subgroups. Seven books by Absalom M. Kennedy, covering the period February 1914-September 1915, contain daily records of experimental work with phonograph recorders and reproducers. Kennedy's notes include numerous references to Edison's own involvement in the experiments. Most of the entries relate to Diamond Disc records, but there are also notes on kinetophone and cylinder records.

The second subgroup consists of thirteen loosely related notebooks by Kennedy and other employees of the laboratory and Recording Division, including F. C. Burt, E. Rowland Dawson, Frank H. Losey, Walter H. Miller, and George J. Werner. Many of the experiments 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 entries frequently bear notations by Edison, some of which are extensive. The eight selected books primarily cover the period May 1915-August 1917, but there are also some entries from 1918-1921.

Related notes on recorder and recording experiments can be found in N-15-12-20.2, Notebooks by Edison, and in N-17-02-06.1, Notebooks by Edison and Other Experimenters -- Navy and Wartime Research Experiments.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.