Find the printed catalogue

A record catalogue and a sound recording provide different evidence. CiNii describes a Columbia Graphophone Company catalogue whose coverage includes Punjabi releases issued through 30 June 1957. It records a holding in Tokyo University of the Arts Library’s Koizumi room, with NCID BA2673369X and local identifier 19502010747. These identifiers make an enquiry more precise than a general request for old Punjabi records. The catalogue’s publication year is bracketed and questioned as 1957, while its stated coverage has an exact closing date. Neither supplies the recording date of each listed performance. The metadata describes the printed text as English and Hindi; that field should not be converted into a statement about every recording’s language.[1]

Follow a container reference

New York Public Library’s record-company finding aid offers another route. Under Gramophone Co, India, Supplements, it lists Gurmukhi, 1931, in box 331, folder 11. The guide explains that regional and language arrangements follow wording printed on the catalogues. Preserve that historical filing label when requesting the folder. It is not a reason to rename Gurmukhi as a spoken language. The item belongs to a collection of printed catalogues and marketing ephemera distributed to dealers. Its finding-aid entry locates a supplement; it does not demonstrate that the library holds an audible copy of every advertised disc.[2]

Retain matrix and issue fields

The Gramophone Company Discography separates matrix numbers, suffixes, takes and issue numbers. An artist search for Punjabi includes an entry naming Four Punjabi Mirasaus, with matrix 4129, suffix e and issue 14419. Expanding it reveals Lahore, a ten-inch format and Kelly File C, Suf-e. The recording date contains only 1906, with month and day blank. Preserve those blanks rather than supply a precise session date. The site identifies Alan Kelly’s lists as a source and warns that names and titles are not standardised. Its distinction between a matrix field and an issued catalogue number makes both worth retaining. This is a documented database entry, not an audition or a newly verified spelling of the performers’ name.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. National Institute of Informatics, CiNii Books; Columbia Graphophone Company (India) catalogue. Columbia Indian record catalogue through June 1957: NCID BA2673369X ↗primary institutional bibliographic record · Source date: [1957?] in catalogue imprint; coverage through 30 June 1957 · Locator: Actual complete relevant bibliographic record: title/coverage, bracketed imprint, Tokyo holding and identifier; notes and language fields, web lines 108–158. Accessed 2026-11-02.Actual institutional catalogue body read. The record describes a Calcutta publication with indexes and xxxvi, 165, xxxiv pages. Only metadata was inspected, not the printed catalogue interior, label or recording. The publication field remains uncertain.Return to Find the printed catalogue, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. The New York Public Library, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. Record company catalogs and ephemera collection: finding aid ↗primary archive finding aid · Source date: Processing described through 2023; target supplement dated 1931 · Locator: Actual 137-page finding aid: introductory scope and arrangement, PDF pp.1–2; Gramophone Co / India / Supplements, PDF p.60, box 331 folder 11. Accessed 2026-11-02.Selected complete introductory paragraphs and the target item row with its hierarchy were read, not the whole finding aid. Collection call number *L (Special) 20-3. The row lists printed ephemera and is not evidence of a disc or an audio audition. Return to Follow a container reference, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. Stephen Clarke and Roger Tessier, based on Alan Kelly’s discographic files. The Gramophone Company Discography: search documentation and matrix 4129 entry ↗original discographic compilation and its field documentation · Source date: Undated working database; inspected 2 November 2026 · Locator: Actual browser artist-query results; expanded matrix 4129 / suffix e / issue 14419; homepage field documentation. Expanded entry identifies Kelly File C - Suf-e and a linked PDF. Accessed 2026-11-02.Actual homepage documentation and expanded result read in the browser on 2 November 2026. The query searches the artist field and is not an exhaustive language census. The entry displays a partial 1906 date and Lahore; a modern country assignment is not inferred. No Kelly PDF, original record label or sound was inspected.Return to Retain matrix and issue fields, paragraph 1 ↑
Help improve this entry. Suggest a correction with a source.
Record PH-COL-0072 · English edition · human review not performed