Scope and Content Note
These papers were part of the larger Isabelle Sayers Collection, a donation of early disc and wax cylinder recordings, phonographs, and related equipment donated to the Library of Congress in several increments between 1981 and 1987. The Sayers Collection includes some extremely rare items from the incunabula period (1884-1905) of the sound recording era. Among these rare items are 19th-century Berliner Gramophone Company discs, concert grand wax cylinders, and an assortment of playback equipment such as a "player-piano type harmonica." The collection totals approximately 2,000 wax cylinders, 4,000 discs, and 50 antique phonographs, as well as related equipment and assorted objects such as statues of the Victor dog, Edison banks, and old needle tins.
This collection of paper and photographic materials dates from circa 1886 to 1980, but many of the items are undated.