Beautifully engraved certificate from the Edison-Bell Consolidated Phonograph Company issued in 1904. This historic document was printed by Waterlow and Sons and has an ornate border around it. This item is hand signed by the Company's Director and Secretary and is over 103 years old. In 1885, Chichester Bell ( cousin of Alexander Graham Bell ) and Charles Tainter develop wax coated cylinders for a machine they invented call the Graphophone. The Edison-Bell Consolidated Phonograph Company was formed in London on November 30, 1892 and acquired the exclusive rights to the British phonograph market from the Edison United Phonograph Company. This London-based company was a reconstruction of the Edison-Bell Phonograph Corporation, Ltd., itself the successor to the Edison United Phonograph Company. Until 1903 Edison-Bell purchased its phonographs from the Edison Phonograph Works, but strained relations led Edison to deal directly in Britain under the National Phonograph Company, Ltd. In 1909 Edison-Bell went into receivership. Its assets were later purchased by James E. Hough, who reorganized the company as J.E. Hough, Ltd. The Edisonia, Ltd was organized in London around 1898 as the exclusive vendor of the Edison-Bell Consolidated Phonograph Company, Ltd., with which it was merged in 1902. It manufactured sound recordings, and sold phonographs, graphophones, and records.