"melophone" 1841, antedates OED3 1859-

[Joel S. Berson]

NEW MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. John Ashton & Co. ... have imported and have
for sale, a MELOPHONE, an entirely new musical instrument ... The
inventor, Monsieur Leclerc ... It has seven rows of keys and
semitones, and is held in the left hand in the manner of the Guitar.
The hand can reach five octaves without being raised or taken off.
... It gives the sounds of two Bassoons, two Clarionetts, two Flutes,
&c; can be played at will, either together or separate, in unison or
octaves. ... It has also the tone of the Organ, with a shade of
expression which that instrument cannot produce, and moreover always
keeps in tune.

The Daily Atlas, (Boston, MA) Wednesday, November 17, 1841; Vol. X,
Issue 119; [page 1], col. 6.  [19th Century U.S. Newspapers]

"melophone" antedates OED3 (July 2010) 1859--

P.S.  Apparently Leclerc created the melophone circa 1837.  This is
not the "mellophone", a brass instrument and the one Wikipedia
redirects us to instead.

(Entirely serendipitous.)
Joel

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