Hello,

My memory of British HMV and Columbia catalouges from the 1930's is that
some multi-disc sets were offered with specifically marked albums and
booklets of notes, some of them with album numbers. These extras seem to
have been optional, since in the course of seeing many sets in multiple
copies, one sees them much more frequently as groups of discs in paper
envelopes (or in generic albums) than in their own particular albums. The
catalogues either imply or state that the specific albums and notes came at
an extra cost, thus explaining why one doesn't see many of them from the
years of the Depression. This situation is unlike that in the US, where
nearly all multiple-disc sets from the major labels were sold only in
albums, except for special-order replacements available to replace broken
items (I suspect that trying to purchase whole sets of individual
"replacement" discs would have been more expensive than purchasing new
copies in albums, but I have no evidence of that).

Sincerely, Richard

At 10:05 AM 3/2/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks Nigel, question answered!
>
>DS
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 3/2/2004 9:29:47 AM >>>
>All
>
>In the British Library Sound Archive we have these as sequentially
>issued
>singles not as an album.  I know that this doesn't actually answer
>David's
>question but there is a third option to consider.  Recorded works were
>sometimes issued as 'coupled' sides for auto-changers or two decks as
>in
>'DJ' mode; that is to say, for example, sides 1 and 3 on the same disc
>and
>sides 2 and 4 on another disc to facilitate if not continuous play then
>play
>with the minimum of interruption.
>
>Regards
>
>Nigel
>
>Nigel Bewley
>British Library Sound Archive
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David S Sager [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: 02 March 2004 14:14
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [ARSCLIST] HMV sets
>
>I am wondering if sets issued by Gramophone such as C.3455-3456
>(Sonata
>in C# Minor-Beethove, artist -Solomon) were issued in albums or just
>sequentially issued singles?
>
>DS
>
>
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