In 1939, Juan Liscano, journalist and poet, provided himself with portable sound-recording equipment and began to record the folklore of Venezuela. He traveled, entirely upon his own initiative and resources, sometimes with considerable hardship, over most of the northern half of the country, including the states of Lara, Falcon, Miranda, Anzoategui, Nueva Esparta, and Zulia, examples of whose music and speech are contained in this album. The fame of Mr. Liscano's collection (to the best of our knowledge the largest made in his country) had preceded him. So that when at last, after several years' correspondence about the preservation and study of his recordings, he visited the Pan American Union in 1946, bringing his discs with him, the Library of Congress availed itself of the opportunity of making a complete set of copies, which are now part of its permanent collection. Selection from these hundred-odd discs was made by Charles Seeger, with the advice and cooperation of the collector, who provided ample notes and transcriptions of many of the texts.