743. THOMAS A. EDISON (1847 - 1931) American inventor of the electric light, phonograph, typewriter, and microphone, to name a few. Considered perhaps the greatest inventor of the century. Extraordinary content T.L.S. on his imprinted letterhead, 1p. 4to., Orange, July 2, 1923, to F. G. Floyd in West Roxbury, Mass. He writes about making recordings of operatic works and the veracity of his recordings, in part: "...We have in our catalog practically every operatic song or selection sung by opera artists. If I were to have them recorded by other artists, all they could do would be to duplicate these selections. The reputation of most of the celebrated artists who sing for a competitor rests upon acting and personality, and not upon their voices. These artists make no success on the concert stage where the spectacular trappings of a theater are not present. Ordinary concert costume and a simple piano accompaniment soon show that it is not their voices that form the ground-work of their celebrity. Indeed, very few of them ever attempt the concert stage, and, if they do, they seldom attempt it twice. Such artists are not suitable for the phonograph. Our competitors use them purely for advertising purposes. The sales of their records are ridiculously small...I turned down most of them. I have almost completed a new studio and experiments with which I have been engaged for a long time, and with those I hope to record the great symphonies by large orchestras and bring out the compound tone. Let me suggest that you listen to a record of the Boston Symphony Orchestra on a competing record. You will find that 80% of the orchestral instruments are not audible. I would not issue a record like that just for a money profit. I shall take steps to look up the lady you mention and see if I can get her to make a trial record. The most difficult thing I know of is to find a singer who has a good interpretation and at the same time a voice free from tremelo and scraping, and without glaring defects in some part of the scale...". Light offsetting at middle, otherwise very good condition. $10,000 - 12,000