Sounds and Images

Abstract

Listen to one of the earliest surviving recordings—for example the plea on behalf of the survivors of the battle of Balaclava made by Florence Nightingale, 30 July 1890. Nightingale recited the words, ‘When I am no longer even a memory, just a name, I hope my voice may perpetuate the great work of my life. God bless my dear old comrades of Balaclava and bring them safe to shore.’ From this a series of wax cylinders were made and sold on the open market to raise money for the veterans. In recent years, the Wellcome Institute has restored its surviving cylinder and transcoded what was originally recorded into an MP3 file downloadable on its website. Through 120 years, and through a series of mechanical, electronic and computational processes, you can hear Nightingale’s voice, you can hear the sounds she made on that occasion in July 1890.1 Compare this to another Victorian invention, photography. Figure 1 is a photograph of Nightingale taken at the height of her initial celebrity in 1858. When you look at the photograph, you see an image of Florence Nightingale. As with the wax cylinder, the mechanical (and now electrical) processes have put you in touch with the past, you have access to the particular occasion in 1858 when Nightingale sat for the photographer. At the same time, there is no individual, no particular, which you now have sensory contact with which was present on that occasion. You have access to Nightingale through seeing an image of her, and it is through seeing the image that you learn of her appearance on that occasion.