1895 Lioret Le Merveilleux Cylinder Phonograph

$1,650.00

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Manufactured in Paris ca. 1894-96 by the French clock-maker Henri Lioret, Le Merveilleux was based on Lioret’s talking doll, Bebe Jumeau, and though outwardly simple in appearance and design (just a small clockwork mechanism housed in a rectangular pasteboard box), Le Merveilleux was historically important on several fronts, most notably because the cylinders it played, which were made of long-lasting celluloid rather than fragile wax, anticipated Edison’s celluloid Blue Amberol cylinders by more than fifteen years.

This example still works, and it’s in good shape — both mechanically and cosmetically — for an apparatus that’s more than a century old and wasn’t built to last more than a couple of years. Though it appears to have had some minor restoration, the phonograph is largely original, with the same clockwork spring motor, the same crude reproducer, the same cheap baseboard, the same clasps, the same hinges, the same winding key, the same small hardware and the same faux Moroccan leather maroon cabinet/box it had when it was new.

The cylinder pictured, Aupres de ma Blonde, is included with it.

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