[ Jeff Bridges wrote in 070630 MMDigest:

> Hi everyone,  I was wondering who was the very first inventor of
> the player piano?  I never really knew.  Any guesses out there?

Jeff's question on this subject is quite interesting, but I cannot
answer it before I know what exactly is meant by this term.  Mechanical
pianos were made from the early 1800s, but are they "player pianos?"

Around 1900 Welte of Freiburg took patent on a machine which I am
sure is some kind of player piano, but maybe someone else made an
instrument that could be a player piano: Gavioli's pianista?  Debain?
The Cartonium?  Where does it start?

Regards from the Netherlands,
Dr. Hans van Oost

 [ For this discussion thread let's define "player piano" as the
 [ piano with the foot pedals that plays a perforated paper music
 [ roll.  It's also the musical machine that displaced the pump
 [ organ or harmonium in the parlour and that preceded the radio
 [ set as the "home entertainment center" of the 1920s.  -- Robbie