With his move from Menlo Park, New Jersey, to New York City at the end
of March 1881, Edison shifted his focus from research and development to
the commercialization of his electric lighting system. This volume of
The Papers of Thomas A. Edison chronicles Edison's central role in the
enormous effort to manufacture, market, and install electric lighting
systems in the United States and abroad.
Standard studies of this period emphasize the inauguration of the
commercial electric utility industry at the Pearl Street central
station. Edison and his associates, however, audaciously operated on a
global scale, not just focusing on the major cities of North America and
Europe but reaching simultaneously from Appleton, Wisconsin, to
Australia, through the Indian subcontinent and East Asia, to Central and
South America.
Praise for The Papers of Thomas A. Edison
"A mine of material . . . Scrupulously edited . . . No one could ask for
more . . . A choplicking feast for future Edison biographers--well into
the next century, and perhaps beyond."--Washington Post
"What is most extraordinary about the collection isn't necessarily what
it reveals about Edison's inventions . . . It's the insight into the
process."--Associated Press
"Those interested in America's technological culture can eagerly look
forward to the appearance of each volume of the Edison
Papers."--Technology and Culture
"His lucidity comes through everywhere . . . His writing and drawing
come together as a single, vigorous thought process."--New York Times
"A triumph of the bookmaker's art, with splendidly arranged
illustrations, essential background information, and cautionary
reminders of the common sources on which Edison's imagination
drew."--New York Review of Books
"In the pages of this volume Edison the man, his work, and his times
come alive . . . A delight to browse through or to read
carefully."--Science
"Beyond its status as the resource for Edison studies, providing a near
inexhaustible supply of scholarly fodder, this series . . . will surely
become a model for such projects in the future . . . The sheer diversity
of material offered here refreshingly transcends any exclusive
restriction to Edisonia."--British Journal for the History of Science
