Alexander Graham Bell recording identified

A 128-year-old recording made by the inventor of the telephone has been uncovered by researchers.

The wax-disc recording was made in 1885 at Bell's Volta laboratory in Washington and is so fragile that researchers needed to set up an alternative playback system to avoid damaging the disc. Upon playing the recording a voice states - "hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell," as well as a number of other recitals. It is one of the earliest and most historically significant recordings held at the Smithsonian Institution.

"Identifying the voice of Alexander Graham Bell, the man who brought us everyone else's voice, is a major moment in the study of history," said National Museum of American History director John Gray. "It enriches what we know about the late 1800s, who spoke, what they said and how they said it."

The voice of Alexander Graham Bell has been identified for the first time, in a recording from 1885. On the wax-disc recording, the telephone inventor says: "Hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell.