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Archival description
Alex Robertson fonds
P023 · Fonds · 1853-1988

Between 1940 and 1986, Alex Robertson collected records. Most of the recordings in the fonds are 78 rpm's pressed in Montreal by Berliner and Compo: Berliner was the first Canadian company to produce records, and Compo was the first to record Canadian Black musicians. The fonds contains a large number of sound recordings that have never had commercial or widespread distribution. The fonds includes about 3,000 pieces of sheet music of various genres, dating from ca 1885 to 1970; about 1,000 pieces have Canadian content. The fonds includes numerous catalogues and promotional pamphlets from record and sheet-music publishing companies, dealers, clubs, and radio stations. Also included are books annotated by Alex Robertson in the course of his disco-graphical research. Alex Robertson's research materials on record labels and series, as well as on Montreal musical activity between 1913 and 1970 are included in the fonds. His extensive correspondence and related newsletters are included. The fonds includes photographs of Alex Robertson with his family; there is also a photograph of Alex Robertson with jazz author George Martin, and several of a reception held in his honor in the Concordia University Archives reading room in 1988.

The fonds is organized into the following series:
P0023/A Correspondence
P0023/B Research on record labels and series
P0023/C Research on Montreal music activity
P0023/D Photographs

Robertson, Alex