Edison
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Edison. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Thomas Alva, a noted American inventor. He was born at Milan, Ohio, February 11, 1847. Financial circumstances prevented his going to school. At the age of twelve he was a newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railway. He was "fond of reading." The printing press and the telegraph instrument had a fascination for him. In 1862 he bought a small hand press, set it up in an abandoned freight car, and published a small weekly paper which he called The Grand Trunk Herald. Later he became a telegraph operator at Mount Clemens. He was noted for rapidity and accuracy. It is said, however, that fondness for playing practical jokes cost him several positions. In 1864 he invented what is known as the automatic telegraph repeater. This was the first of a long list of electrical inventions. He invented, also, a machine for indicating the price of stock, known as a commercial stock indicator. This he sold to a New York company for $40,000. With this money he set up a laboratory and workshop at Newark, New Jersey . In 1876 he removed to Menlo Park, from which he is called often "The Wizard of Menlo Park." Later he established himself at West Orange, New Jersey. The manufacturing end of his establishment gives employment to several hundred men. He keeps a large force of experts busy at work making experiments under his direction. Among Edison's more noted inventions are the phonograph, a long distance telephone, the megaphone, the incandescent electric lamp, and a storage battery for cars and automobiles. Honors have been heaped upon Edison by foreign governments. In 1878 he was made chevalier of the French Legion of Honor . He has been honored also by Italy and by the Society of Arts of Great Britain . He is a man of undoubted intellectuality and of equal industry. He has said himself that "genius is two per cent inspiration and ninety-eight per cent perspiration." He reads omnivorously. Each day's mail brings him new books from all parts of the world. His method of procedure is to determine first of all that a certain article or device is desirable. He then sets himself and his men at work to invent it. He is a man without time for gossip and none for rest. Frequently he telephones for his meals to be sent to his workroom. The carriage which now calls for him is obliged frequently to wait for hours until he has come to a stopping place. Fortunately, he passed the point long since where money is a consideration. It is impossible to get his ear on money matters. Invention is his consuming passion. Edmund II (989-1016), king of the West Saxons. He was surnamed Ironsides. He succeeded his father Ethelred "the Unready," in April, 1016. Canute the Dane forced Edmund to divide his kingdom. Canute took the northern part-the York end, and Edmund retained the southern or London end. At Edmund's death Canute assumed the control of the whole kingdom. 2026 Editor's Note: Edison was the living legend of this encyclopedia's world — 'the Wizard of Menlo Park' mid-career. The modern accounting (see Edison ) adds the ruthless businessman to the wizard, and gives Tesla his overdue chapters. (Ed: BR 2026-06-18)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
THOMAS ALVA, an American inventor; born in Milan, O., Feb. 11, 1847. In early life he was denied the privileges of continuous schooling, but acquired a large and varied stock of knowledge by his own industry. Before he was 12 years of age he became a train boy on the Detroit and Port Huron branch of the Grand Trunk railroad, and learned to operate the telegraph. He began to study batteries, wires, and instru- THOMAS A. EDISON ments, wherever he could find them. His first invention to be patented was a commercial stock indicator, and the proceeds of this invention, which at once came into wide use, enabled him to establish a laboratory at Newark, N. J., afterward removed to Menlo Park, and then to its present location at West Orange, N. J. From this beginning he became known to Photo, Brown Bros. A VIEW OF MT. CHIMBORAZO, ECUADOR Enc. Vol. 3-p. 469 Photo, Paul Thompson PYRAMIDS, ROCK TOMBS AND GRANITE TEMPLE AT GIZEH, EGYPT Photo, International Film Service PULPIT OF IVORY, EBONY, AND ALABASTER IN THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASSAN, CAIRO Publishers' Photo Service THE TEMPLE OF PHILAE, PARTLY SUBMERGED BY THE WATERS OF THE NILE BECAUSE OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ASSOUAN DAM Ewing Galloway THE PUBLIC GRAIN ELEVATOR AT NEW ORLEANS, LA., ONE OF THE BEST EQUIPPED IN THE WORLD Photo, Underwood & Underwood A HIGH-FREQUENCY ALTERNATOR USED IN SENDING WIRELESS MESSAGES. ALTERNATOR IN CENTER; DYNAMO AT RIGHT; TRANSFORMER, ABOVE International Film Service LOWER BROADWAY, NEW YORK, SHOWING ITS ELECTRIC LIGHTING AT NIGHT 10254 10254 Photo, Ewing Galloway A GEARLESS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE DRAWING A TRAIN IN THE MOUNTAIN SERVICE, NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES