Papers from the Isabelle Sayers Collection
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2008647462
General International Standard for Archival Description
Recorded Sound Reference Center, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Encoded by Karen Fishman and Marsha Maguire, 2007
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Papers from the Isabelle Sayers Collection circa 1886-1980 1920-1980
Sayers, Isabelle S.
Biographical History for: Papers from the Isabelle Sayers Collection circa 1886-1980 1920-1980
Biographical Note Isabelle S. Sayers (1914-1982) was an avid collector of early recordings and audio equipment. Sayers's primary interest was in rare items, particularly those from 1884 to 1905 of the early sound recording era. One of the few female collectors of the mid-20th century, Sayers expanded her collection over a period of at least 30 years by placing advertisements in local newspapers and collectors' newsletters, and by developing relationships with collectors and antique dealers nationwide. She displayed and spoke about her collection locally; in 1959 she appeared on WBNS-TV to demonstrate early machines in her collection. Sayers was also interested in inventors of recording equipment: she collected photographs, clippings, and ephemera relating to Thomas Edison, Emile Berliner and their various inventions. Sayers also had an avid interest in photography and the history of the West. She wrote two books on Annie Oakley: Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West (New York: Dover Publications, 1981) and The Rifle Queen, Annie Oakley (Sayers, 1973). Both incorporated historical photographs from her own collections as illustrations. Isabelle Sayers resided with her husband, Frank T. Sayers, in Columbus, Ohio, from circa 1953 through 1971. The couple lived in Ostrander, Ohio, from 1971 until Isabelle Sayers's death in December 1982.
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.
series
Series 1. Correspondence, 1951-1980, undated
Series I consists of correspondence between Isabelle Sayers and collectors, experts, and dealers. The majority of the correspondence relates to the exchange, sale, or appraisal of antique records, cylinders, recording equipment, phonographs, or other equipment. Many of the letters relate both to Sayers's collection and to her personal life, reflecting the close relationships she developed with other collectors and experts. Frequent or prominent correspondents represented in this series include Harlan and Grace Kishpaugh, L. Brevoort Odell, Duane D. Deakins, Lawrence McKinley Marken, Lewis G. Green, Clarence A. Ferguson, and Jim Walsh (whose papers are also held by the Recorded Sound Section).
file
Correspondence, 1951-1957
Correspondence, 1958-1959
Correspondence, 1960-1961
Correspondence, 1962-1963
Correspondence, 1964-1965
Correspondence, 1966-1967
Correspondence, 1968-1969
Correspondence, 1970-1971
Correspondence, 1972-1976
Correspondence, 1977-1978
Correspondence, 1979-1980
Correspondence, undated
Series 2. Collection Notes, 1919-1972, undated
Series II consists of acquisition notes, equipment descriptions, lecture notes, and other items. Included is a diary dating from circa 1952 to 1959 with notes about Sayers's acquisition of equipment and recordings. Lecture notes and miscellaneous writings refer to the history of recording in the United States and Ohio. Miscellaneous collection notes consist of scraps of paper with brief notations about individual recordings, record lists, and addresses of dealers and collectors. One folder contains notes and ephemera relating to Sayers's interest in vaudeville performer Elsie Janis.
Addresses, undated
Diary of collection and acquisition notes, 1952-1959
Equipment descriptions, undated
Elsie Janis notes and ephemera, 1919-1972
Lecture notes and miscellaneous writings, undated
Receipts, 1958-1975
Miscellaneous collection notes, undated
Series 3. Printed Materials, 1923-1977, undated
Series III contains newsletters, journals, pamphlets, guides and other printed materials relating to music, recordings and phonographs. Included are programs for music and theater performances, pamphlets on Thomas Edison's inventions and life, technical equipment guides, radio travel logs, record price listings and small catalogs, and reprints of articles on Ohio music and black recording artists.
subseries
Journals and newsletters
The Music Box: An International Magazine of Mechanical Music, vol. 7, no. 1, 1975
Music Box Society Newsletter, no. 4, 1975 March
Music Memories Monthly, vol. 3, no. 4, 1963 June
The Ragtime Society, 1962-1966
The Ragtimer, 1975 March
Pamphlets
Audio Equipment, 1923-1977
Thomas Alva Edison biographical materials, 1928, 1973
Music progams and guides, 1910-1929
Radio, travel logs, 1925-1963
Radio technical guides, 1923-1930
The Rifle Queen: Annie Oakley, 1973
Record price lists, advertisements, and catalogs, 1930-1981, undated
Reprints, undated
Series 4. Ephemera, 1907-1977, undated
Series IV consists of items in a variety of formats relating to Sayers's recording interests. Included are clippings relating to musicians, inventors, and equipment; a calendar issued by the Capehart Collection; advertisements; record inserts from early Edison recordings; greeting cards; pictorial envelopes; phonograph diagrams; and postcards. One folder of miscellaneous materials includes a slide with song lyrics, business cards, and a record coupon.
Advertisements See also Oversize Folder 31, Radio, travel logs, 1925-1963
Music box advertisements, 1897-1900, undated
Phonograph advertisements, 1897-1923
Piano advertisements, 1897-1909
Recording advertisements, 1904-1929, 1969
Miscellaneous advertisements, 1898-1939, undated
Calendar from the Capehart Collection, 1948
Clippings, 1932-1977 See also Oversize Folder 66, Clippings, 1897-1961, undated
Please use photocopies in folder 45.
Photocopies of clippings
Please use these photocopies rather than the fragile originals in folder 44.
Greeting cards, undated
Phonograph diagrams, undated
Postcards and pictorial envelopes, 1908-1947, undated
Record inserts for Edison cylinders, circa 1912-1914
Miscellaneous, undated
Series 5. Photographs, circa 1895-1975, undated
Series V contains approximately 75 photographs (black-and-white and color) as well as 7 slides and 32 negatives. Many of the photographs in this series were printed from copy negatives of older photographs or images from journals and books. Included are photographs of Isabelle Sayers displaying equipment from her collection and portraits of inventors Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner. Also represented are various actors and musicians, with a particular focus on Elsie Janis, a Columbus, Ohio, native and star of many vaudeville productions. Photographs of recording equipment and phonograph advertisements are also present. Three scrapbooks are included in this series. One contains Isabelle Sayers's family photographs and related ephemera; the two others include portraits and clippings of Broadway, movie, and recording personalities.
Audio equipment, 1962, undated
Emile Berliner portraits and equipment, undated
Thomas Edison and the gravestone of Samuel Edison, 1969, and undated See also Oversize Folder 70, Photographs and prints, 1923 and undated
Elsie Janis portraits, circa 1895-1920, undated
Photographs of phonograph advertisements, undated
Portraits of actors and musicians, undated
Included are images of Helen Clark, Glen Ellison, Kirsten Flagsted, Ada Jones, Helen Jepson, Betsy Lee Shepherd, and Blanche Theborn.
Isabelle Sayers with collection and musicians, circa 1945-1975
Scrapbooks, 1886-circa 1960
Includes family photographs, images of Broadway and theater stars, and ephemera.
Miscellaneous negatives, undated
Miscellaneous photographs, 1899, undated
Series 6. Oversize Materials, 1897-1965, undated
Oversize materials include posters, broadsides, photographs, prints, and newspaper and magazine clippings. A small collection of broadsides for early concerts and equipment demonstrations are mostly undated. Oversize photographs are all of Thomas A. Edison or his inventions; also included in this folder are several copies of an undated wood block print of Edison. Clippings related to Thomas A. Edison (a few are full copies of publications focusing on his career or death), Elsie Janis and other musicians. Oversize advertisements are also included.
Advertisements, 1910-1923, undated
Broadsides, undated
Clippings, undated
Photocopies of oversize clippings; please use these rather than the fragile originals.
Clippings, 1897-1961, undated
Please use the photocopies of these clippings housed in folder 66.
Publications, 1859, 1919-1973
Photographs and prints, 1923, undated
Posters, circa 1929-1930, undated