Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's Lost Phonautograph Recordings (1853 to 1860)

Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville was a French inventor known for his experiments with the phonautograph, the earliest known device that accurately recorded sound. Though the device was never originally intended for playback, modern day technology made it possible to translate the recordings into actual, playable sounds. In 2008, many of the recordings were made publicly available. This made them the earliest known recorded sounds, predating many of Edison's experiments by nearly 20 years.

Of the examples, most of them were recordings of ticking clocks an tuning forks. However, one particular example proved to be quite impressive to historians. It was a recording of a person singing a rendition of "Au clair de la lune", a classic French folk tune. When orginally discovered, historians misread Scott's notes and played it at double speed, making many think the gender of the singer to be a woman. However, after many corrections, they played it at the correct speed and the gender was revealed to be male, more than likely Scott himself.

Accoring to several sources, there were earlier recordings on the device that featured the human voice. However, most of these recorings are either extremely deteriorated or theyre far too indecipherable to be of any significance. Many people still long to hear these recordings, though, as they are still the earliest known recorded sounds made by humans.

An unconfirmed rumored recording also surrounds the device. Many claim that Scott toured the United States in the 1860s with the device. There is evicence that Scott had, at one point, met Abraham Lincoln. While it is unclear if it really happened, allegedly Scott recorded Lincoln giving his opinion on slavery. If this recording ever surfaces, it would be the earliest sound recording of a president surviving. Many historians, however, doubt its existence.

Technology is getting progressively closer to being able to decipher the surviving recordings. There may be many of these recordings that can be played back, leading to a treasure trove of historical lost media.