Columbia Multiplex Grand

[RodPickett]

A photo on Julien Anton’s website https://www.phonorama.fr/le-shah.html 

 

of The Shah presenting the Multiplex Grand and its cylinder’s transported to the Golestan Palace (circa 1900) in Tehran, has been AI enhanced.

 

The beer-keg-like canisters, approximately 7 inches in diameter and 14 inches in length, contain the Multiplex Grand cylinders.  The entire outfit was transported to the Palace by camel-caravan.  A photo of that caravan exists somewhere, that I have not yet been able to locate.

 

[Valecnik]

Thanks very much for posting Rod.  I've never seen the picture before.  What an outfit! Amazing!  Happy New Year!

 

[phonogfp]

What an interesting image of a legendary Graphophone!  

 

Thanks for posting it, Rod.

 

George P.

[Tinfoilphono]

Great photo, thanks for posting it.

 

It reminded me of a long exchange of emails I had with a German collector, Rolf Kramer, almost exactly a year ago. He owns an incomplete 1900 Multiplex Grand as well as a prototype, both from Charley Hummel's collection. He has done extensive restoration on both. I don't remember seeing them at Charley's but both have ID plates indicating they were from Columbia's own archives, as displayed in St. Louis in 1904, and from which Charley had many rarities. Rolf opened a phonograph museum in Germany last summer. 

 

His Multiplex does not have the 3-reproducer carriage. He owns the 1904 carriage, formerly in Allen Koenigsberg's collection, but it doesn't fit the 1900 version.

 

This post prompted me to check in with Rolf again this morning. Things are moving along with his collection and museum, and he forwarded this link to see pictures and details on the Multiplex Grand: https://hub.catalogit.app/edisonium/folder/graphophone-laboroties/entry/graphophone-multiplex-grand-1900-model

 

I recommend clicking on this link to see the rest of the amazing collection, including a Bergmann Exhibition tinfoil from Charley's collection: https://hub.catalogit.app/edisonium/folder

Edited Thursday at 05:38 PM by Tinfoilphono

[BruceW]

What an amazing collection.