Shaping the Stein collection’s Dunhuang corpus (2): the items from Cave 17’s ‘miscellaneous’ bundles

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In a previous blog post , we looked at the instrumental role played by Wang Yuanlu during the selection of the items from the Cave 17. Wang, who directly chose from the small repository what to hand over to Stein for inspection, was very keen to divert his attention from the so-called ‘regular’ bundles, which were composed for the most part of Buddhist sutras in Chinese and Tibetan. During their first ever transaction, which took place between 21 May and 6 June 1907, Wang Yuanlu therefore began by handing over the ‘miscellaneous’ bundles, which he seemed to hold in low estimation. To Stein’s delight, these contained mixed and diverse materials, such as manuscripts in non-Chinese languages, illustrated scrolls, paintings, drawings, ex-votos, textiles, etc. Stein picked out any of the items that jumped at him as being particularly interesting and made sure to put them aside for ‘further examination’, the phrase that he used to refer to their removal in his transaction with Wang. This ...
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Public Lecture: Gramophones in Central Asia

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Between 1902 and 1917, the Gramophone Company of London sent several of their recording engineers on epic journeys across the southern regions of the Tsarist Russian Empire, where they recorded the various cultures and ethnic groups they encountered. What resulted was an intimate view of pre-Soviet life, from the Caucasus mountains to the deserts of Russian Turkestan, in the form of several thousand commercial gramophone discs.

The names of many of the recording artists have passed into legend in their home countries, and their influence continues to reverberate. Using extensive archive documentation from the UK and elsewhere, Will Prentice will explore the hidden stories of the artists and recording engineers, and ask in what ways the recordings reflect the social history of the region.

Will Prentice received his MMus in ethnomusicology from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1999. For the last 13 years he has worked as a sound archivist for the British Library, where he is currently Head of Technical Services within the Sound & Vision department.

Wed 5 Sep 2012, 13.00 - 14.00
Foyle Suite, Centre for Conservation, The British Library

Book online here.

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