Marvelous Music Auction
Lot 1199:
Description
This is an exact replica of the first experimental talking machine built by John Kruesi from a rough sketch given to him by Thomas Edison on November 29th, 1877. Kruesi was Edison’s head machinist and was responsible for translating Edison’s ideas into working models. He built the model from left over pieces from other experiments. Edison’s first recording, “Mary had a little lamb…” was recorded on December 6th, 1877 using a piece of tin foil that had been wrapped around the brass mandrel. Edison filed for a patent on his “Phonograph” on December 29th, 1877. This replica is one of 12 built in 1966 by Paul McGilvery for the founding members of the Early Talking Machine Club of America. This particular example was owned by Larry Donley and displayed with his collection at Donley’s Wild West Town in Union Illinois until 2020. It comes with the set of full scale plans that were used to build the 1966 replicas. The plans are copies of the 1929-30 drawings from the Edison Labs in Orange NJ. Also included are 2 photographic copies of Edison’s original sketches of the “speaking telegraph” and the “Phonograph”, and 9 pieces of original tin foil given to Larry Donley directly from Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory.
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