The complete set of Edison's patents appears on the microfilm in chronological order by issue date.
Reissued patents follow immediately after their associated patent.
All but eight of the patents filmed are from the seven-volume U.S. Patents of Thomas A. Edison, which is located in the library at the Edison National Historic Site. They also made extensive use of miscellaneous loose sheets of paper. After moving to Menlo Park in 1876, Edison attempted to standardize the laboratory notebooks and the staff began making records in soft-cover tablets. Most of these were later disbound and their pages rearranged. Not until late in 1878 did Edison adopt the standard-size hardbound notebooks used throughout the rest of his career.