It was early in the brand new twentieth century that Lionel S. Mapleson (1865-1937), Librarian of New York’s Metropolitan Opera Company, acquired a new toy that would provide him with yet another hobby besides his already cherished one of photography. The diary excerpts quoted above convey vividly the extent of his fascination with the Edison “Home” Model which he purchased, and the direction in which his new hobby led him. (Leo Stern, who gave Mapleson the Bettini recorder and reproducer for his “Home” Model A, had been soloist for the world premiere, in London on March 16, 1896, of Dvo[rcaron]ák’s Cello Concerto, under the composer’s direction.) INFO