LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 July Marketplace Auction #87071  / 

91502

Guest Book Signed by Thomas A. Edison

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,100.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Guest Book Signed by Thomas A. Edison
<B>Edison Family Guest Book Signed by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Others.</B></I> 11.5 x 8.5, oblong format, boards covered in green silk with gilt titles. This guest book provides a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of the Edison family from 1914 through sometime in the late 1940s. The first page is dated October 10, 1914 and displays the signatures of Thomas Edison, his second wife Mina, and their sons Charles and Theodore. Edison's bold <I>Thos A Edison</B></I> is signed with his unique umbrella sweep from the T. The next several pages contain the signatures of many friends and neighbors from the Orange, New Jersey area. Included within the guest book are original drawings by guests, signatures of visiting royalty and a few personal family photographs of Edison himself. Laid into the guest book are 11 telegrams sent by Henry Ford on February 11th (Edison's birthday) each year beginning 1932 through 1939 to Madeleine Edison Sloan, Edison's daughter, and her two sons John Edison Sloane, Peter Edison Sloane and Thomas Edison Sloane. Ford explains that he had been of the habit of sending birthday greetings to Thomas Edison each year and that he was carrying on the tradition. The telegram dated February 11, 1933 is particularly noteworthy. It reads in part: Your fathers service to the world becomes greater as the passing years gives us clear perspectives. Most men work in materials that pass away but he worked in light and sound and motion and power all of them imperishable. Has any other man so inseparable linked his name with the very forces of nature. Though the silk has largely gone missing from the covers, the front board about detached and several of the pages have become disbound, this is still an important archive in good condition.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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