Old Voice Recordings

Early Voice Recordings

A popular view is that the earliest known voice records were made by Thomas Edison. However, it would seem a Frenchman made recordings about 10 years earlier. His name was Edouard Leon Scott de Martinville. Recordings were made about 1860!! He was a Parisian typesetter and librarian. His machine was called a phonautograph. You can hear this recording at http://graphics8.nytimes.com/audiosrc/arts/1860v2.mp3 .

The voice of Florence Nightingale may be heard below.