Brian Chesters wrote in 991114 MMDigest:

> I understood that [the Duo-Art Biographical Rolls] helped to
> bankrupt the Aeolian company, they were so expensive to produce.

The exercise which helped to bankrupt the Aeolian Co (though no doubt
the Great Crash did a lot more) was the World's Music and Biographical
Duo-Arts and 88n Themodist roll series started in 1927.  By 1932
Aeolian was in trouble and would never have embarked on such an
exercise.

The earlier series of rolls were carefully printed with woodcuts, using
a special printing press the length of the roll, probably using a
silk-screen process.  Later, pictures were omitted and later still the
rolls only had an introductory printed panel on the leader.  Finally,
the remaining stock was issued in yellow-label boxes without any
special printing at all, as ordinary rolls.

My parents happened to know one of the illustrators, Norman Janes.  If
anyone has the "Military" Polonaise by Chopin in this series, his are
the illustrations.  I wrote to him in the late 1960s asking about it.

He said he had known Percy Scholes, the chief instigator of the program
and a well known London musicologist, beforehand and Percy had asked
him to suggest some artists who worked in woodcut and would be
interested.  About six artists were used, of whom Norman was one.

The artists did not get much of a fee for their work but rather
quaintly, the Aeolian Co assumed from their interest they were player
piano owners and all the artists received one copy of all the rolls.
Janes had no player and the rolls collected in the top of his wardrobe.

Originally he kept them as examples of his work to show people
interested in giving him some other commission, but at the end of the
war he moved house and put the whole lot out for the dustman !  By the
time he wrote to me he had realized the folly of his ways -- quite apart
from wanting the rolls again to show people.

Dan Wilson, London