Page 46 - Spring 2007

In 1881, after the cottage lot was sold to a brewery that had already bought the adjacent lots, the cottage was moved to the easterly side of Forest Street, keeping its orientation unchanged. Later, around 1905 it was moved again to its present location at the corner of Chestnut Avenue and
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http://www.garibaldimeuccimuseum.org/.
A detailed obituary of Antonio Meucci was published in
the Baltimore Sun on 19 October 1889.
American historian-writer Giovanni Schiavo1 documented
Meucci’s life in 1958. Basilio Catania, a retired Italian telecom- munications engineer, performed in-depth research18, 23 from 1989 to 2002, on Meucci’s works. Details from the works of both these authors were used as the foundation of this article.
A few copies of Schiavo’s book on Meucci might be found for sale on the internet. Schiavo's collected works as well as a collection on Meucci may be found at the American Italian Museum and Research Library in New Orleans (www.airf.org).
Catania has available a CD18 with all his data, document copies and his presentations in English, Italian and Spanish. He has also published a fascinating biography of Antonio Meucci in three phases; Florence, Havana, and New York with comments on the scientific knowledge and social condi-
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References for further reading:
1 Giovanni Schiavo, Antonio Meucci, Inventor of the telephone, (The Vigo Press, New York, 1958).
2 Deposition of Antonio Meucci, rendered Dec. 7, 1885–Jan. 13, 1886, National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region, New York, NY. Records of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York. The American Bell Telephone Co. et al. vs. The Globe Telephone Co. et al. Also “Deposition of Antonio Meucci,” New York Public Library (Annex), Answers 14–17 and Meucci dep- osition of 11 September 1886, answers 626–630.
3 Affidavit of Antonio Meucci, sworn Oct. 9, 1885, National Archives and Records Administration, Northeast Region, New York, NY. Records of the US Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York. The American Bell Telephone Co. et al. vs. The Globe Telephone Co. et al. Deposition of Antonio Meucci, Defendant’s Exhibit No. 120. Also “Deposition of Antonio Meucci,” New York Public Library (Annex), Part 2, pp. 10–32.
4 Basilio Catania, www.comunicazioni.it, extract from a 26 December 1859 letter to Garibaldi from Meucci, computer trans- lation into English.
5 B. Catania, “Antonio Meucci’s ‘Teletrofono’—The True Story Behind the Invention of the Telephone,” Accenti, The Canadian Magazine with an Italian Accent 1(3), 16–28 (July–August 2003). Also repro- duced in “Puglia Review” (Canada) V(4), Winter 2003; Vol. VI(2), 6–8, 17, 30–32 (Summer 2004). See also Ref. 2, 11 September 1886 deposition answer #3.
6 Affidavit of Michael Lemmi (Translation of Meucci’s Memorandum book), sworn Sept. 28, 1885, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD–RG60, Year Files Enclosures 1885–6921, Box 10, Folder 1, 230/3/46/6 (originally filed at the Interior Department file 4513–1885, Enclosure 2).
7 A. Meucci, Sound Telegraph, U.S. Pat. Off. Caveat No. 3335, filed Dec. 28, 1871; renewed Dec. 9, 1872; Dec. 15, 1873. File wrapper kept at the National Archives and Records Administration, College
The Order of the Sons of Italy in America now maintains the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum at 420 Tompkins Street, Staten Island, NY 10305. See
Tompkins Street.
tions of those times.
Fig. 9. Marconi’s reconstruction of Meucci’s 1857–67 Telephone. (Photo by Maurizio Ghisellini for Basilio Cantania in the early 1990’s).
among others such as Dante, Michaelangelo, Galileo, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Machiavelli.” In Jo Ann Davis’s words; “Meucci should be remembered with other innovators, like Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Marconi whose vision and tenacity changed our lives for the better.”AT
Endnotes:
Figure 1 is a photo of Antonio Meucci by L. Alman. The orginal is in the Museo del Risorgimento, Milan, Italy.
Since the initial phono-electric effect was first discovered in Havana by accident in 1849, Cuban authorities can claim Havana to be the birthplace of telephony.
44 Acoustics Today, April 2007