The Wenches would like to thank Wanda McCaddon for her fascinating interview about audiobook narration. Here at Wenches, we shower our guests with thanks and virtual gifts and declare them Honorary Word Wenches (HWW). And here's the dream gift we'd wish for you...
This gorgeous, glossy red antique Edison Phonograph, first manufactured in 1877. If you were to record an audiobook for Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice in 1877, you'd have to speak into the open end of the projecting horn. The sound would go down the tube, vibrate a glass piece, and stir a stylus inside the machine to trace the sound patterns onto a revolving wax disc or cylinder. The disc could be played back later on a phonograph machine.
Thank you, Wanda, Honorary Word Wench!
Here's an article in the New York Times about Edison's recording machine, for the very curious: