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Recently acquired at a charity/fund raiser auction this signed Edison photo.
First time I have seen an original of this photo offered for sale.
Presume "Figaro" is the French publication Le Figaro and that Edison sent them this photo while he was at the 1889 Paris Expo.
They published a number of articles about Edison and his phonograph display.
Great detail ....can even see the dirt on the finger nail of his thumb...!!!!!

That's quite a rarity. There are very few signed pictures of Edison with a phonograph out there. Congrats!

That's amazing, what a great piece of history. Wonder why he wanted to always look angry in his younger photos.

Martin

I can't quite tell -- is the signature on the photo itself or a separate paper?

I can say that the writing and signature are consistent with Edison's earlier writing style so it very well could have been written in the 1880s. It is much harder to find early Edison signatures than later ones so that's a great find.

TinfoilPhono wrote:I can't quite tell -- is the signature on the photo itself or a separate paper?

I can say that the writing and signature are consistent with Edison's earlier writing style so it very well could have been written in the 1880s. It is much harder to find early Edison signatures than later ones so that's a great find.

It sure looks like the same crease in the photo and on the rear (with signature).

TinfoilPhono wrote:I can't quite tell -- is the signature on the photo itself or a separate paper?

I've superimposed the front and back (aligning the cracks) to show it's on the back of the photo.
Also, it may have been overlooked, by some, that pencil planning was erased after it was inked.
A assume that photos were still expensive and making an ink mistake would be a waste of money.

James.

The signature is on the back of the photo.
It was matted by the previous owner sandwiched between glass so you can see the front and the back

Mormon S wrote:That's amazing, what a great piece of history. Wonder why he wanted to always look angry in his younger photos.

Martin

I think that the look that he was going for was exhaustion. It’s tiring waiting for your employees to make an idea into a viable invention.

You know, 30+ years ago I knew an old gal that got "THE" award (around 1910) from the Palmer penmanship people and even in her 90's that woman's hand-writing was amazing. She worked for banks and lawyers copying letters that went to important clients since a typewritten letter wasn't considered very personal. She told me she could make about $10 a day that, but it was a lot of writing. Anyway, if she was filling out an award or something, even like a birthday card, she would practice it out in pencil first but usually on a piece of scrap paper until she got the size of the handwriting to fit the space and then she would get out the ink pen and finish it up. She would get a kick out of Edison doing it like that on a back of a photo.

We sure live in a diminished age in a lot of ways, don't we?

Thanks for sharing that with us, it shows that Edison liked that picture himself, doesn't it?

Earl

EDISON, Thomas (1847-1931). Sepia photograph, signed verso (“Edison”) and additionally inscribed to Figaro, n.d. [ca 1888].





4 ¾ x 6 ⅝ in (visible area), matted and framed (not examined out of frame), creased, old tape repair on verso. “To Figaro from Edison”.




The Virtuoso Collection: Opera Memorabilia sold to Benefit Lyric Opera of Chicago


Estimate$800 - $1,200



Sold for $4,250

Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium



brought good money for being signed on the back. steve