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RAYMOND R WILE
This article focuses on the corporate history of The North American Phonograph Company between the years 1888-1892 and is another chapter in the author's history of the talking machine in North America. Part II, covering the company's remaining years of operation, is scheduled to appear in the fall issue of the ARSC Journal. For a complete listing of the chapters see ARSC Journal Highlights 2003;43(2):296-301 or check the ARSC web site.
The agreement between Jesse Lippincott and Thomas A. Edison contained two sample contracts which were to be used as models for the proposed phonograph company and Edison or the Edison Phonograph Works. These called for the organization of a company to introduce both the graphophone and the phonograph; ''that the phonograph [should] be of a certain character, and that the graphophone, thereafter to be called the 'phonograph-graphophone,' [should] also be of a certain character; and that the Edison Phonograph Works [should] have the sole and exclusive right to manufacture the phonograph and the various devices and apparatus used in connection therewith and supplied therefore in perpetuity.''1.
The agreement also specified a method for documenting the characteristics of the phonograph to satisfy the American Graphophone Company. In order to properly identify any unique features, it was proposed that a current model be submitted for examination and identification. The instrument would then be returned to the new company and placed in its custody. Thereafter no new improvement could be misappropriated by either of the opposing parties.2.
If the future could be foretold by events, those of the first few weeks in July would indicate a stormy and troubled one. After the strain of the negotiating sessions, Lippincott traveled to his summer home in Western Pennsylvania for a well-deserved rest. While there his son developed ''malignant diphtheria''. Ezra Gilliland reported that this would delay a return to New York until 13 July.3.
By 12 July A.O. Tate, Edison's Private Secretary, had rounded up the majority of the outstanding stock certificates of the Edison Phonograph Company and turned them over to John C. Tomlinson, Edison's attorney. The following day, Lippincott reported to the American Graphophone Company that the first payment had been made to Edison and that the stock had been...