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James Madison Carpenter collection, 1928-1987

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Series I: Original Collection Materials
Subseries A1: Administrative Files
The "MS" number is the designation for the grouping of materials in their digitized form.
BOX 1a FOLDER 1 Finding aid (2008 revision of the 1996 collection guide).
45 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 1b Concordance to photographic images (revision).
40 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 1c Collection guide, photo inventory, and photo concordance.
The 1996 collection guide and the item-level inventory and concordance of photographic materials (all now superseded by revised documentation). 54 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 2 Correspondence, 1970-1972.
Correspondence between the Library of Congress and James Madison Carpenter, Kenneth S. Goldstein, and others concerning the acquisition of the collection and related matters. 26 pages
BOX 1a FOLDER 3 Correspondence, 1973-1991.
See description for Folder 2. 21 pages
BOX 1a FOLDER 4 MS 001 Notes about the collection.
Handwritten and typed notes by James Madison Carpenter and Alan Jabbour concerning the contents of the collection (undated). 6 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 5 Early box/content lists, circa 1972.
Early box/contents lists. Handwritten and typed lists by Alan Jabbour and other Library employees outlining the contents of the collection, primarily the manuscript materials and the microfilm (undated). 43 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 6 List: informants.
Typewritten list of names of people from whom Carpenter collected in northeast Scotland, circa 1930. Compiled by E.B. Lyle, 1975, from the headings of texts. 4 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 7 “A Guide to the Carpenter Manuscripts.”
A copy of the work compiled by E.C. Cawte, 1980. A typewritten inventory of tunes, songs, and folk drama texts based on the microfilm of the manuscripts. In reel order, it lists informant (singer, fiddler, etc.) and title. It also includes date and place when listed in the original, as well as brief descriptions of other material, such as correspondence and notes. 115 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 8 “A Guide to English Ritual Drama in the Carpenter Manuscripts.”
A copy of the work compiled by E.C. Cawte, 1980. 58-page, typewritten inventory of ritual drama and other folk customs based on the microfilm of the manuscripts. In reel order, each entry specifies place, source, Carpenter's folio number, type of custom, summary of materials, and comments. The guide also contains an analysis of the places and numbers of texts collected, a list of customs mentioned by Carpenter, an alphabetical index, and references. 58 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 9 MS 002 Recordings: content list.
Original. Typewritten list (with annotations) prepared by Carpenter of the contents of the sound recordings. In disc-side order, it lists the title of the tune and the name or description of the singer/informant. It includes ballads, fiddle tunes, recitations of mumming plays, chanteys, forebitters, dreg songs, bothy songs, nursery songs, and spirituals. 68 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 10 Recordings: content list.
Copy. Typewritten list (with annotations) prepared by Carpenter of the contents of the sound recordings. In disc-side order, it lists the title of the tune and the name or description of the singer/informant. It includes ballads, fiddle tunes, recitations of mumming plays, chanteys, forebitters, dreg songs, bothy songs, nursery songs, and spirituals. 82 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 11a Articles by/about James Madison Carpenter.
Photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles by Carpenter (1931, 1938) and about Carpenter and the collection (1985, 1989, 1990). 30 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 11b Castle identifications made by Ian B.D. Bryce.
Corrections, made by Bryce, to previously identified (or unidentified) photographs in the collection. Folder includes some correspondence relating to these corrections. 18 pages.
BOX 1a FOLDER 11c Additional photo identifications.
Additions and corrections to known photo identifications, made by Lesley Ferguson (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland), Medwyn Parry (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales), and others at these institutions. 6 pages.
BOX 1b FOLDER 11d SIG: NDL file check (Folder 1 of 3).
SIG (Systems Integration Group, Inc.) digitized the manuscript materials. Staff working in NDL (The National Digital Library Program) were responsible for running the file check, which confirmed whether or not the vendor created digitized images according to Library of Congress specifications. 71 pages.
BOX 1b FOLDER 11e SIG: NDL file check (Folder 2 of 3).
See description for Folder 11d. 64 pages.
BOX 1b FOLDER 11f SIG: NDL file check (Folder 3 of 3).
See description for Folder 11d. 58 pages.
BOX 1b FOLDER 11g JJT Inc.: inventory and technical data.
JJT Inc. digitized the photographic images. 89 pages.
BOX 1b FOLDER 11h VidiPax: summary and condition reports.
VidiPax was the company responsible for digitizing the audio recordings. A technical report by Adrian Cosentini (audio engineer, VidiPax), describes the condition and problems encountered during the digitization of the collection’s wax cylinders. 178 pages.
Subseries A2: Original Manuscript Materials
The “box” and “packet” numbers correspond to those referred to in the microfilm. It is not known if this is the original order of the materials or the arrangement imposed by the Library of Congress for microfilming.
BOX 1c FOLDER 12 MS 003 Correspondence/papers, 1928-1939
Correspondence between Carpenter, Harvard University and John A. Lomax (Library of Congress) concerning his fellowships, collecting experiences, and possible lecture opportunities. Includes original fellowship certificates. 7 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 13 MS 004 Scottish and English songs - A
Typewritten and annotated texts of songs from Scotland and England, on separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets. Most sheets include name of tune, singer (informant), and date and place of recording. Sheets are numbered, but are not arranged in numerical order. Numbers may refer to various indexes. 86 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 14 MS 005 Scottish and English songs - B
See description summary for Folder 13. 103 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 15 MS 006 Scottish and English songs - C
See description summary for Folder 13. 82 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 16 MS 007 Scottish and English songs - D
description summary for Folder 13. 68 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 17 MS 008 Scottish and English songs - E
See description summary for Folder 13. 99 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 18 MS 009 Scottish and English songs - F
See description summary for Folder 13. 136 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 19 MS 010 Scottish and English songs - G
See description summary for Folder 13. 117 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 20 MS 011 Scottish and English songs - H
See description summary for Folder 13. 118 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 21 MS 012 Scottish and English songs - I
See description summary for Folder 13. 108 pages.
BOX 1c FOLDER 22 MS 013 Scottish and English songs - J
See description summary for Folder 13. 116 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 23 MS 014 Scottish ballads - A
Typewritten and annotated texts of ballads from Scotland, on separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets. Most sheets include name of tune, singer (informant), and date and place of recording. Sheets are numbered, but are not arranged in numerical order. Numbers may refer to various indexes. 145 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 24 MS 015 Scottish ballads - B
See description summary for Folder 23. 178 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 25 MS 016 Scottish ballads - C
See description summary for Folder 23. 130 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 26 MS 017 Scottish ballads - D
See description summary for Folder 23. 120 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 27 MS 018 Scottish ballads - E
See description summary for Folder 23. 125 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 28 MS 019 Scottish ballads - F
See description summary for Folder 23. 54 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 29 MS 020 Mumming plays -A
Typewritten and annotated texts of mumming plays, including Riding The Stang, Christmas plays, sword dance plays, pace egger plays, and others. Originally bound, these are now separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 inch sheets. Includes name of play/group, location, informant, and text of play, as well as some description of movement/action, costuming, and circumstances of performance. Some plays copied from cited published sources. Often there are several versions of the same play from different informants, as well as information about the way the informant learned the play. Pages are numbered, but not necessarily arranged in numerical order. 161 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 30 MS 021 Mumming plays - B
See description summary for Folder 29. 162 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 31 MS 022 Mumming plays - C
See description summary for Folder 29. 86 pages.
BOX 2a FOLDER 32 MS 023 Mumming plays - D
See description summary for Folder 29. 161 pages.
BOX 2b FOLDER 33 MS 024 Mumming plays - E
See description summary for Folder 29. 158 pages.
BOX 2b FOLDER 34 MS 025 Mumming plays - F
See description summary for Folder 29. 275 pages.
BOX 2b FOLDER 35 MS 026 Mumming plays - G
See description summary for Folder 29. 255 pages.
BOX 2b FOLDER 36 MS 027 Songs and chanties - A
Typewrittten and hand-annnotated song texts, on separate 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 inch sheets.. Includes title of song and often name of informant, date, and location. Pages are numbered but not necessarily arranged in numerical order. Begins with six-page typewritten and annotated “Index to Songs and Chanties” that lists titles of songs and their page number(s), in numerical order. 165 pages.
BOX 2b FOLDER 37 MS 028 Songs and chanties - B
See description summary for Folder 36. 166 pages.
BOX 2b FOLDER 38 MS 029 Songs and chanties - C
See description summary for Folder 36. 131 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 39 MS 030 Songs and chanties - D
See description summary for Folder 36. 203 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 40 MS 031 Miscellaneous notes and indices - A
Miscellaneous handwritten notes and song titles, mostly on 8 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2-inch sheets; “Sharp's English Folk Song From Southern Appalaciana;” partial index of song titles and singers; partial sound recordings contents list, #73-126 (see Folder 9); and partial lists of informants, song genres, and titles. 117 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 41 MS 032 Miscellaneous notes and indices - B
See description summary for Folder 40. 103 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 42 MS 033 Miscellaneous notes and indices - C
See description summary for Folder 40. 70 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 43 MS 034 Miscellaneous notes and indices - D
See description summary for Folder 40. 51 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 44 MS 035 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - A
Typed and handwritten (annotated) notes and texts similar in format to those in Folders 13-39; “Index to English and Scottish Traditional Ballads” arranged alphabetically by song title. 90 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 45 MS 036 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - B
See description summary for Folder 44. 198 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 46 MS 037 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - C
See description summary for Folder 44. 139 pages.
BOX 3 FOLDER 47 MS 038 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - D
See description summary for Folder 44. 225 pages.
BOX 4 FOLDER 48 MS 039 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - E
See description summary for Folder 44. 141 pages.
BOX 4 FOLDER 49 MS 040 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - F
See description summary for Folder 44. 175 pages.
BOX 4 FOLDER 50 MS 041 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - G
See description summary for Folder 44. 92 pages.
BOX 4 FOLDER 51 MS 042 Miscellaneous field typescripts and manuscripts - H
See description summary for Folder 44. 119 pages.
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