This folder contains documents, primarily correspondence, covering a wide variety of subjects. Some of the material relates to personal matters. Also included are documents that deal with more than one subject, such as a letter about both the electric light and the phonograph. Documents concerning subjects that do not fall under the main subject categories are also filed in this folder. Among the items are several documents relating to the acquisition and shipment of the marble statue, "Genius of Electricity," which Edison purchased for his West Orange laboratory at the Paris Exposition of 1889. Also included is correspondence from engineering schools regarding scholarship funds and donations of electric light equipment and laboratory apparatus.
In addition, there are numerous letters from Everett Frazar pertaining to Edison's business interests in Asia; correspondence by Philip S. Dyer, Edison's patent attorney in Europe; and letters regarding the illegal use of Edison's name. Near the end of the folder is an undated 21-page memorandum in Edison's hand, declaring his intent to go into the ore milling business in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, providing the rationale for this decision, and explaining his plans for financing the venture.
Over 90 percent of the documents have been selected. The following categories of documents have not been selected: duplicate copies of selected items; documents that duplicate information in selected material. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.