Series 3: Papua New Guinea (1904‒1909). The collections of Rudolf Pöch, Wilhelm Schmidt, and Josef Winthuis

The historical material of the Phonogrammarchiv, the world's oldest sound archive, comprises ca. 4000 recordings, so-called Phonogramme and gramophone discs. The decision in favor of a complete edition was to a large extent motivated by increased interest in these recordings from outside the narrow circle of research institutions concerned with sound archiving. In many cases, the historical recordings are the earliest of their kind, documenting cultures and languages which have since been subject to fundamental changes. Some of the recordings preserve cultures or styles of expression that no longer exist in the form preserved here. These collections, therefore, are also attracting the attention of a general public interested in culture and history, especially in the regions of their origin. The series of the Complete Edition of the Historical Recordings 1899-1950, begun in 1999 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the existence of the Phonogram Archive, is continued in series 3, Papua New Guinea (1904-1909), the collections of Rudolf Pöch, Wilhelm Schmidt, and Josef Winthuis. The core of the series Papua New Guinea (1904-1909) are the famous recordings of Rudolf Pöch. Pöch was a pioneer in many respects: he systematically employed photographic, phonographic and cinematographic techniques for anthropological purposes. He was the first scholarly employee of the Phonogrammarchiv, the first academic teacher and, eventually, the first chair of anthropology at the University of Vienna. His second expedition to South-west Africa 1907-1909 will be published later in the course of this edition. Along with the Pöch-materials from Papua New Guinea, the other historical holdings of that region are published within the series; the collection of Father Wilhelm Schmidt, the founder of the Vienna School of Anthropology, and Josef Winthuis. All these recordings are documents of cultural expressions which have considerably changed since the time of recording. It can be assumed that the historical ethnography of this region will profit considerably from this publication. The edition of these historical sound documents on CD is meant to make possible easy access, not only to the sound documents as such. They are therefore accompanied by the original protocols, published on a CD-ROM as digital images, while a commentary section.