News & Events:
Special Collections closed September 1 in observance of Labor Day
Acquisition of 10,000 records in Bruce Bastin/Interstate Music Collection...more
Current Exhibition: Recent Acquisitions...more
Performing Arts Collection:
Historical Sound Recordings
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"The world's greatest singers, players, bands and orchestras enter your home with Victrola" Advertisement for a phonograph player (1915)
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The Department of Special Collections holds over 250,000
audio recordings in a variety of formats. Many of these recordings are
unique while many more are commercially issued 78 rpm and cylinder recordings.
Commercial recordings are cataloged in Pegasus,
the Library's online catalog, while unique recordings are most often indexed
in collection finding guides in the Online
Archive of California. This partial list highlights some of the larger
collections held by the Library.
Collections of Commercial Sound Recordings
- Adams (Carlisle) Collection (PA Mss 23)
- Approximately 5,000 vocal 78rpm sound recordings.
- Arabic wax
cylinders, ca. 1900. (PA Mss 42)
- Twenty-one commercial brown wax cylinder recordings,
made in Damascus, Syria.
- Archive
of Recorded Vocal Music. (PA Mss 19)
- Approximately 18,000 vocal recordings from the
first half of the 20th century.
- Florey (Robert) Sound Recording Collection (PA 2001-001)
- Film director Robert Florey's collection of early
French 78 rpm recordings. The collection includes many French popular
recordings from 1900-1940 including recordings by Dramen, Polin,
Felix Mayol, Mistinguett, Charlus, Berard and Chevallier among others.
- James (Harry and Grace) Collection (PA Mss 5)
- Donated by Harry and Grace James to UC-Riverside
and subsequently transferred to UCSB, the James collection contains
approximately 15,000 recordings, including long runs of Victor and
Columbia 78 rpm album sets.
- Kingsbaker/Moeller/Bang Collection (PA 2000-003)
- Jazz and dance orchestra 78s and LPs and a large
number of trade catalogs relating to Jazz and popular music.
- Lucas (Johnny) Sound Recording Collection (PA 2001-007)
- Collection of Jazz 78s of dixieland trumpeter
Johnny Lucas (Firehouse Five), including unreleased acetate recordings.
- Moran (William R.) Collection
(PA Mss 57)
- Collection of author and discogrpher William R.
Moran.
- Rich (Blanche Browning) Collection (PA 2002-005,
PA 2002-006)
- 1,400 Edison Blue Amberol cylinder recordings
and 6,400 Edison Diamond Discs, all unplayed dealer stock.
- Singletary Collection (PA 1998-012)
- Donated by Barbara and Bart Singletary, the collection
contains approximately 375 78rpm recordings, mostly of Duke Ellington
and Ellington Units.
- Stokowski (Leopold) Test Pressings (PA 1999-011)
- Stokowski's personal collection of Victor test
pressings.
- Stuart Collection (PA 1999-008)
- 3,000 78 rpm recordings, strong in popular and
dance band music as well as spoken word.
- Todd (Verne) Collection. (PA
Mss 1)
- Extensive collection of popular, classical, jazz
and other sound recordings and related ephemera.
- White (Phyllis) Collection (PA 2001-015)
- 3,500 78 rpm recordings, primarily vocal music.
White was the wife of Anthony Boucher.
Collections with Unique Sound Recordings