The phonautograph was the precursor to the tinfoil phonograph. Invented by Leon Scott de Martinville in 1853, twenty-four years before Edison's first phonograph, the phonautograph could record sound but not play it back. In retrospect it is surprising that no one recognized the potential possibilities of reproducing such recorded sound prior to 1877. The phonautograph was very well-known in scientific circles but was considered strictly an instrument for the visual study of sound waves. Edison was well aware of Scott's invention and even used a phonautograph to record train noises for evidence in a lawsuit in mid-1878.

In 2008 researchers with the First Sounds initiative, working with scientists at Berkeley Lawrence Laboratory, succeeded in doing what Scott could never dream of -- playing phonautograms. Among the early recordings recovered through computer scanning was the earliest vocal recording known to exist, "Au Clair de La Lune," recorded by Scott on April 8, 1860. I was proud to be a collaborator on this historic project.

Like the tinfoil phonographs which followed, phonautographs were produced by many manufacturers in a variety of sizes and styles. Phonautographs and phonographs shared a common feature, a hand-driven cylindrical mandrel, but instead of tinfoil the phonautograph recorded sound onto sheets of paper coated with lampblack (carbon residue from kerosene lamps). The sound waves were traced laterally rather than indented vertically as on the phonograph, and consequently the mandrel was smooth rather than grooved. (The same basic principle was also used in Kymographs and Vibrographs, laboratory instruments which registered musical or tonal vibrations, blood or other physical pressure responses, etc. These also recorded on lampblack-coated paper but typically had spring motors with governors for consistent speed.)

Phonautographs were normally constructed with two distinct sections, a frame supporting the mandrel and a separate frame for the horn and attached diaphragm and hog bristle stylus. This particular example is incomplete, lacking the horn section. It carries the nameplate of Radiguet & Massiot of Paris, one of the most important manufacturers of scientific equipment of the late 19th century. Arthur Radiguet was particularly well-known for his work with cameras, motion pictures, telephones, and X-rays. The latter interest led to his becoming one of the earliest victims of fatal radiation poisoning, in 1905.