From Tinfoil to Stereo: The Acoustic Years of the Recording Industry, 1877-1929

" Thelandmark book on the origin and development of the technology of sound recording."--John Fesler, International Tapetronics Corporation "Whoever has spoken into the mouthpiece of the phonograph, and whose words are recorded by it, has the assurance that his speech may be reproduced audibly in his own tones long after he himself has turned to dust. The possibility is simply startling."-- Scientific American, November 17, 1877 From Tinfoil to Stereo, the fundamental reference book of sound recording history, was last available in print in the late 1970s. It described the development of sound recording from early experiments that led to the invention of the tinfoil cylinder phonograph by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877 (patented on February 19, 1878) to the development of stereo technology in the mid-1950s. This book is a revision and expansion of the first half of the earlier text--the critical acoustic era of phonograph history. It incorporates 50 percent new information presented by international experts, including some who were associated with historical figures in the industry or who have hands-on experience with actual models of early phonographs. The new material includes discussion of the talking doll, the Kinetophone, the cement phonograph era, early coin-vending machines, and the international scope of early entrepreneurs. Since its first publication in 1959, From Tinfoil to Stereohas been regarded as the bible of record and phonograph collectors. It investigates the individuals, the companies, and the legal machinations that led to virtually every major development in the talking machine industry, up to the installation of sound on Hollywood stages and in movie theaters across the country. This edition contains many new photographs, most taken between 1888 and 1912, that have never appeared in any publication.Leah Brodbeck Stenzel Burt is the author of 'From Tinfoil to Stereo: The Acoustic Years of the Recording Industry, 1877-1929', published 1994 under ISBN 9780813013176 and ISBN 0813013178.