Thank you, Roger - 

Yes, we were aware of these, though believe me, every little bit helps. Du Jun Min, the author of the CAPS articles, has been helping us with this project, along with several other collectors in Asia. We'll be posting much more in the near future!

Jonathan



> Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 19:44:13 -0700
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Encylopedic Discography of Victor Recordings: Asian  Recordings Project
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> A few pages I found,you probably saw them,too.Information only,no 
> discographies.I know there is one for Chinese 78s,I saw it for sale years ago.
> 
>  http://www.capsnews.org/apn2008-1.htm
> http://www.davidsarnoff.org/sooyh-maintext1921.html
> http://tinyurl.com/22r3ppm (Interesting.)
> http://www.jstor.org/pss/851274
> 
> Roger
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Jonathan Ward <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wed, August 4, 2010 1:17:57 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Encylopedic Discography of Victor Recordings: Asian  
> Recordings Project
> 
> 
> In 1902-1903, with a series of discs featuring traditional Chinese 
> opera, the Victor Talking Machine Company began recording the music of 
> Asian cultures, and subsequently marketing those records to Asian 
> communities in the United States. In the ensuing years, Victor expanded 
> its reach to Asia itself, eventually opening thriving offices in both 
> China and Japan. Between the early 20th century and 1940, Victor had 
> issued thousands of discs for Asian markets. While they focused 
> predominantly on the traditional and popular music of Japan and China, 
> Victor and its satellite offices also recorded the music of the 
> Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, as well as a few Indian 
> recordings. Chinese opera from Fuzhou, Korean aak court music, 
> Vietnamese cải lương – Victor recorded it all.
> 
> Unfortunately, very little original documentation on Victor’s master 
> recordings for Asian markets has been preserved. The editorial staff at 
> UC Santa Barbara's Encylopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR) 
> has begun surveying and collecting extant documentation, and with the 
> assistance of scholars and collectors, we are researching the scope of 
> Victor’s Asian output. The end result will be a definitive overview of 
> the range of recordings produced, the series names and numbers, the 
> number of master recordings released (or reissued), and the genres 
> recorded. The eventual goal is to gather enough information, including 
> label scans, to include Victor's Asian issues in the EDVR.
> 
> As an example, a detailed survey of the 42000 10" double-faced Chinese 
> series has been completed and other similar surveys are under way to 
> help us better understand the extent of Victor's Asian operations. 
> Victor's 42000 double-faced Chinese series began ca. 1910 and initially 
> contained both original recordings, as well as recouplings of Victor's 
> earlier single faced Chinese issues from as early as 1902. As Victor 
> continued recording Chinese language masters, it became the primary 
> series for recordings marketed to Chinese in the US and in Asia and 
> contained a variety of Chinese dialects. The last 42000 was issued 
> sometime in the teens, but the 43000 series continued on until the late 
> 1920s. To see our survey of the 42000 series by dialect (or language), 
> please visit this link:
> 
> http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/resources/detail/82 
> 
> For any questions, or if you wish to participate in the project, contact:
> 
> Jonathan Ward, Associate Editor for Asia
> Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings
> [log in to unmask]                           
> 
> 
>