Research Catalog

Edison album

Title: Edison album / [testimonials collected by Julius Block], 1889-1900.
Author: Block, Julius, 1858-1934.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Text	Request in advance	JPG 09-2	Performing Arts Research Collections - Music

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Additional Authors

Description

1; 34 cm.

Summary

Album containing handwritten comments on the Edison phonograph collected at the end of the 19th century, principally in Russia, by Julius Block. Comprises 17 holograph signed testimonials by P.I. Tchaikovsky, S. Tanejef, W. Safonoff, K. Rukawishnikof, J. Polonski, Alexis Potechin, Anton Rubinstein, Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov, N. Solovieff, [Samueli?], 9 members of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, E. Napravnik, J. Hrjimaly, 16 professors of the Physico-Mathematical Faculty of Moscow University, A. Lenski, Leo Tolstoy, and Arthur Nikisch. All but one of the testimonials are dated between 1889 and 1894 in St. Petersburg or Moscow; Arthur Nikisch's testimonial is dated 1900, Berlin. Album contains 30 pages of testimonials and 98 blank pages.
Accompanied by a portfolio containing 8 encapsulated mimeographed leaves entitled "Extracts from the Edison phonograph album" (transcriptions and translations of testimonials, on J.H. Block stationery) and 5 leaves of photocopies from another Edison album, housed at the Antique Phonograph Monthly, Brooklyn, NY.

Subjects

Sound > Recording and reproducing > History > Sources
Autograph albums
Thomas A. Edison, Inc
Phonograph > History > Sources
Testimonials > Russia

Genre/Form

Autograph albums.
Testimonials – Russia.

Access (note)

Access to original requires permission and supervision of curator.

Additional Formats (note)

Also available in electronic form, digitized by The New York Public Library.

Biography (note)

Julius Block (b. 1858, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa; d. 1934, Switzerland) was a businessman and music lover. While residing in Russia, he demonstrated an Edison phonograph for many musicians and other celebrities and in many cases recorded them in performance. He "kept beautifully bound autograph books in which he collected written testimonials from those who had attended his phonographic soirées. He called these his 'Edison Albums'. Two are known to exist today: one at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library, the other at the Antique Phonograph Monthly in Brooklyn, New York. The location and possible existence of additional volumes is unknown"--Liner notes for The dawn of recording : the Julius Block cylinders, p2008 (Marston : 53011-2), p. 41.

Language (note)

Variously in Russian (principally), English, French, and German.

Binding (note)

Dark red cloth, embossed and gilt, with "Edison album" on front cover.

Publications (note)

The dawn of recording : the Julius Block cylinders, p2008 (Marston : 53011-2). Liner notes (p. 42-49) accompanying the CD include reproductions of 6 holograph pages with English translations.
Hall, David. "The Edison autograph album at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives." ARSC (Association of Recorded Sound Collections) Journal, v. 1, no. 1 (Winter 1967/68), p. 2-5. Includes English translations of 11 of the testimonials.

Call Number

JPG 09-2

OCLC

664602622

Author

Block, Julius, 1858-1934. Collector

Title

Edison album / [testimonials collected by Julius Block], 1889-1900.

Access

Access to original requires permission and supervision of curator.

Additional Formats

Also available in electronic form, digitized by The New York Public Library.

Biography

Julius Block (b. 1858, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa; d. 1934, Switzerland) was a businessman and music lover. While residing in Russia, he demonstrated an Edison phonograph for many musicians and other celebrities and in many cases recorded them in performance. He "kept beautifully bound autograph books in which he collected written testimonials from those who had attended his phonographic soirées. He called these his 'Edison Albums'. Two are known to exist today: one at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library, the other at the Antique Phonograph Monthly in Brooklyn, New York. The location and possible existence of additional volumes is unknown"--Liner notes for The dawn of recording : the Julius Block cylinders, p2008 (Marston : 53011-2), p. 41.

Language

Variously in Russian (principally), English, French, and German.

Publications

The dawn of recording : the Julius Block cylinders, p2008 (Marston : 53011-2). Liner notes (p. 42-49) accompanying the CD include reproductions of 6 holograph pages with English translations.

Hall, David. "The Edison autograph album at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives." ARSC (Association of Recorded Sound Collections) Journal, v. 1, no. 1 (Winter 1967/68), p. 2-5. Includes English translations of 11 of the testimonials.

Binding

Dark red cloth, embossed and gilt, with "Edison album" on front cover.

Local Note

For "The dawn of recording" liner notes, see: *LDC 47080. A version is available online at:http://www.marstonrecords.com/block/block_liner.htm

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Added Author

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, 1840-1893.

Taneev, Sergeĭ Ivanovich, 1856-1915.

Safonov, Vasiliĭ Ilʹich, 1852-1918.

Rukavishnikov, Konstantin Vasilʹevich, 1848-1915.

Polonskiĭ, ︠I︡A. P. (︠I︡Akov Petrovich), 1819-1898.

Potekhin, A. A. (Alekseĭ Antipovich), 1829-1908.

Rubinstein, Anton, 1829-1894.

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay, 1844-1908.

Solovʹev, N.

Samueli ??

Napravnik, Ė. (Ėduard), 1839-1916.

Hřímalý, J. (Jan), 1844-1915.

Lenskiĭ, A. P. (Aleksandr Pavlovich), 1847-1908.

Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910.

Nikisch, Arthur, 1855-1922.

Research Call Number

JPG 09-2

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