My own understanding, though I am a obstreperous recluse, is that he made that cylinder recording on the exact same day he had his picture taken. He was actually making a Facebook page and wanted it to be as complete as possible. The service was then of course known as Visagepalimpsest. AA [log in to unmask] wrote: > > In a message dated 11/3/2009 12:45:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > Folsom bases his theory on a message that Edison wanted a recording of > Whitman who also lived in New Jersey. > > > ------------------ > In the original APM article we also ran copies of the Feb 1889 > correspondence between Sylvester Baxter and the NA Phono Co (A. O. Tate). But it was > only an epistolary suggestion as nothing came of it. > > Whitman's last years were covered in a Diary kept by Horace Traubel, and > there is no mention of such a (recording) event. The local newspapers kept > track of Walt's doings (he was rather housebound toward the end of his life), > and are curiously silent about WW intoning his voice for posterity. In Aug > of 1889, WW did go out (in Philly), by carriage, to have his picture taken > and that was noted. But when Haley was writing to Yale about the possible > purchase of his "recordings", it was claimed that the WW "cylinder" was a > poem about Lincoln! > > If wishes were horses.... and other reasons why poetry critics should not > do phonographic research. Why was Haley unwilling to show anyone (ever) his > actual wax records - he had so many, such as Stowe, Cleveland, Whitman, > etc. How does one prove a negative? > > Allen > > >