Snapshots of the Past

[Thomas Edison, full-length portrait, seated, facing front, with phonograph] – Vintage Wall Art

[Thomas Edison, full-length portrait, seated, facing front, with phonograph], [ca. 1878] — historic photograph
[Thomas Edison, full-length portrait, seated, facing front, with phonograph], [ca. 1878]. Historic photograph from the Work & Industry collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with [Thomas Edison, full-length portrait, seated, facing front, with phonograph], a historic photograph rich in period detail. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[Thomas Edison, full-length portrait, seated, facing front, with phonograph]

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Edison sits full-length and facing the camera beside a phonograph, a pose that presents the inventor as the author of the machine itself. The picture dates to about 1878, the year after he first recorded and played back human speech on his tinfoil cylinder device, a breakthrough that astonished the public and the press. Portraits like this one helped spread his fame, and the phonograph was among the first machines able to capture and replay the voice. Edison was about 30 at the time and was already building a reputation as a prolific inventor at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Created / published[ca. 1878]
Medium1 photographic print.
GenrePortrait photographs 1870-1880.Photographic prints 1870-1880.
SubjectsEdison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva),--1847-1931. Inventors--1870-1880. Phonographs--1870-1880.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,158 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-169084

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