'The Anthology of American Folk Music' - how a particular collector’s preferences can shape a canon

'The Anthology of American Folk Music' is a six-LP compendium of folk, blues, and country songs recorded in the United States between 1926 and 1934, curated by Henry Smith, and issued in 1952. The set ultimately became one of the central texts of the folk revival, guiding artists including Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan, The New Yorker writes revisiting the anthology. This fall, b-sides of every 78-r.p.m. records Smith used for the 'Anthology' are coming out in a box-set.