This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the procurement, sale, and testing of minerals. Included are inquiries by Edison to various mineral suppliers, along with letters requesting information from Edison and inquiring about ores that he might supply, process, or use. Among the items for 1913 are letters to and from Henry M. Leland, founder of the Cadillac Motor Car Co., regarding the self-lubricating properties of Babbitt metal. Other documents pertain to the procurement of industrial diamonds for phonograph needles. There are also letters from chemist Charles Baskerville, professor at the College of the City of New York, and correspondence with representatives of the Standard Essence Co. of New York. One undated item by longtime Edison associate Ludwig (Louis) Ott concerns reduction experiments.
Approximately 10 percent of the documents have been selected. The material not selected consists primarily of unsolicited correspondence and other letters that received a perfunctory reply or no reply from Edison. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.