THOMAS EDISON PAPERS AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

The Thomas A. Edison Papers is a leader in Edisonian heritage. Delving into the five million page archive that documents the extraordinary life and achievements of Thomas Alva Edison has made us the world’s foremost authorities on the inventor. The Edison Papers, a documentary research project, is uniquely positioned to authenticate and articulate how science and knowledge-based industries became part of the fabric of our nation. Edison’s varied involvement in a remarkably diverse range of activities make him relevant to any of today’s centers of innovation. As a flagship project in digital humanities, the Edison Papers’ robust website attracts over 700,000 visitors annually. Our digital edition makes Edison's papers accessible to a much larger and wider range of users than ever before. What is Documentary Editing? Selected key documents from Edison's archived collection are transcribed then annotated and chronologically collected into volumes that encompass his various inventions. This letter (left) from Edison to Uriah Painter on April 16, 1878, discusses the impact of Edison’s new-found fame resulting from his invention of the phonograph. It can be found in Volume 4 (below).


Why is Documentary Editing Important?
Innovation is easy to conceptualize – isn’t it? It’s part of the American dream to want to be the next Alexander Graham Bell or Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Jack Welsh. But what does that mean? How does it happen?

Edison remains the standard for measuring technological prowess and entrepreneurship among today’s geniuses of intellectual property creation and management. By studying letters, notebook entries, experimental drawings, legal agreements, equipment specifications, marketing plans, autobiographical and other writings from Edison’s lengthy career, The Edison Papers are uniquely positioned to recognize and understand innovation in practice and theory. These documents reveal how Edison achieved his success and the contexts f or his innovations.

As the world's foremost authority on the inventor and the foundation of innovative concepts, The Edison Papers make the complex Edisonian legacy accessible and comprehensible for current and future innovators. The research serves as an intellectual compass to the daunting mass of Edison-related items in historical sites and private collections worldwide.

The Thomas A. Edison Papers, as a research center at Rutgers University, is dedicated to a wider understanding of the legacy of America’s most prolific inventor and innovator. This is accomplished through books, articles, media appearances, Internet services, community outreach, and educational collaborations. For more information on the Edison Papers or to look through the scanned original documents, visit edison.rutgers.edu.