The Bettini Reproducer

Gianni Bettini (1860-1938)
Poster, ca. 1890
Gift of Robert A. Truax, 2000
Motion Picture, Broadcasting &
Recorded Sound Division
Purchase, 1985 (195.2a, 195.2b)

Native-Italian Gianni Bettini (1860-1938) recorded and sold cylinders in New York City in the 1890s. Bettini's patented improvements to existing cylinder machines included a playback device which purportedly improved the sound quality of recordings. Bettini cylinders are among the rarest in existence. The most intriguing of those he made were recordings of President Benjamin Harrison and Mark Twain, both now lost. Shown is his poster and a cylinder.