This richly illustrated volume explores Edison's inventive and
personal pursuits from 1885 to 1887.
Two decades after the American Civil War, no name was more closely
associated with the nation's inventive and entrepreneurial spirit than
that of Thomas Edison. The restless changes of those years were
reflected in the life of America's foremost inventor. Having cemented
his reputation with his electric lighting system, Edison had decided to
withdraw partially from that field. At the start of 1885, newly widowed
at mid-life with three young children, he launched into a series of
personal and professional migrations, setting in motion chains of events
that would influence his work and fundamentally reshape his life.
Edison's inventive activities took off in new directions, flowing
between practical projects (such as wireless and high-capacity telegraph
systems) and futuristic ones (exploring forms of electromagnetic energy
and the convertibility of one to another). Inside of two years, he would
travel widely, marry the daughter of a prominent industrialist and
religious educator, leave New York City for a grand home in a sylvan
suburb, and construct a winter laboratory and second home in Florida.
Edison's family and interior life are remarkably visible at this moment;
his papers include the only known diary in which he recorded personal
thoughts and events. By 1887, the familiar rhythms of his life began to
reassert themselves in his new settings; the family faded from view as
he planned, built, and occupied a New Jersey laboratory complex
befitting his status.
The eighth volume of the series, New Beginnings includes 358 documents
(chosen from among thousands) that are the most revealing and
representative of Edison's work, life, and place in American culture in
these years. Illustrated with hundreds of Edison's drawings, these
documents are further illuminated by meticulous research on a wide range
of sources, including the most recently digitized newspapers and
journals of the day.
