The Papers of Thomas A. Edison

Rutgers University

Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Project Website: http://edison.rutgers.edu/index.htm

A comprehensive edition of the papers of Thomas Alva Edison (1847 –1931), American inventor and businessman. He invented or developed the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed “The Wizard of Menlo Park,” Edison applied the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. The NHPRC also funded a microfilm collection http://edison.rutgers.edu/microfilm.htm (1989-1999) containing approximately ten percent of the 5 million pages of Edison documents at the Edison National Historic Site. 288 microfilm reels covering the years 1850-1919.

Eight completed volumes of a planned 15-volume print edition, along with a digital edition of nearly 175,000 documents.