Patent #17,897/31,470, granted in France on 25 March 1857, secured the phonautograph as an innovation in sound recording. This device aimed to capture human speech visually by using a horn and diaphragm to transcribe vibrations onto lampblack-coated surfaces. While the inventor envisioned a form of mechanical stenography, his work remained largely unknown for over a century following his death.
Technical Origins and Development
Born in Paris in 1817, Scott de Martinville worked as a printer and bookseller. His profession provided access to scientific literature, where he encountered drawings of the human ear. He designed a mechanism that substituted an elastic membrane for the tympanum and a series of levers for the ossicle to move a stylus. Working alongside acoustic instrument maker Rudolph Koenig, he constructed several versions of this device. By 1857, the device was sufficiently accurate for studies on vowel sounds, finding utility among scientists like Franciscus Donders, Heinrich Schneebeli, and Rene Marage.
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Unlike the later phonograph, the phonautograph did not play back recordings. It inscribed sound waves onto paper, wood, or glass surfaces, which the inventor called phonautograms. He intended for these visual waves to be read like text. Although the Société d’encouragement pour l’industrie nationale supported his progress, he was unable to commercialize the technology. He spent his final years operating a business at 9 Rue Vivienne, dealing in prints and photographs.
Modern Recognition of Early Audio
In 2008, research revealed that 1860 phonautograms contained recorded sounds. This included a 20-second recording of the folk song Au clair de la lune, initially mistaken for a shorter, faster clip. It stands as the earliest intelligible recording of singing. A later recording of Torquato Tasso’s Aminta represents the oldest known recording of human speech. These items were added to the National Recording Registry in 2010 and the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2015.
Fast facts
- Born: 1817, Paris
- Died: 1879, Paris
- Occupations: Printer, bookseller, inventor, publisher, typographer
- Patent Date: 25 March 1857
- Notable Recording: Au clair de la lune
- Patent Number: 17,897/31,470
- Children: Six
Questions readers ask
Did Scott de Martinville record Abraham Lincoln?
There is no evidence for this claim. The inventor never visited the area where such an event would have occurred.
Could the phonautograph play back audio?
No. The device was designed to visualize sound waves as phonautograms, not to reproduce the sound audibly.
Achievements
- Notable work: Au clair de la lune
- Worked as publisher, typographer and bookseller
