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Caedmon Audio andHarperCollins Audio are record label imprints ofHarperCollins Publishers that specialize inaudiobooks and other literary content. FormerlyCaedmon Records, its marketing tag-line was Caedmon: a Third Dimension for the Printed Page. The name changed when the label switched to CD-only production.

Caedmon Records was a pioneer in the audiobook business, it was the first company to sell spoken-word recordings to the public and has been called the seed of the audiobook industry.^[1] Caedmon was founded inNew York in 1952 by college graduatesBarbara Holdridge and Marianne Roney (laterMarianne Mantell).^[2]

The label's first release was a collection of poems byDylan Thomas as read by the author. The B-side containedA Child's Christmas in Wales, which was added as an afterthought; the story was obscure and Thomas himself could not remember its title when asked what to use to fill up theLP'sB-side. However, this recording went on to become one of his most loved works, and launched Caedmon as a successful company.^[1] The original 1952 recording was a 2008 selection for theUnited States National Recording Registry, stating it is "credited with launching theaudiobook industry in the United States".^[3]

The company went on to record other notable writers reading their own works, such asW. H. Auden,Robert Frost,T. S. Eliot,Ernest Hemingway,Gertrude Stein and many more. The label expanded further to encompass other types of spoken-word recordings, including children's stories, speeches, plus English- and foreign-language classics. Theater performances were also staged for the label, starring either the Shakespeare Recording Society or the Theatre Recording Society, depending on the playwright. These performances included many famous actors and actresses, includingAnthony Quayle,Claire Bloom,Richard Burton,Albert Finney,John Gielgud,Siobhán McKenna,Michael Redgrave,Vanessa Redgrave,Felix Aylmer,Paul Scofield,Alec McCowen,Donald Pleasence,Ralph Richardson,Max Adrian, andMaggie Smith, among others. Other notable readers for the label includedVincent Price,Basil Rathbone, andLouis Jourdan.

Raytheon, which also ownedD. C. Heath and Company, bought Caedmon in 1971.Harper & Row (now HarperCollins) purchased the label in 1987.^[4]

This partial discography provides an idea of the range of literary and acting talent that Caedmon was able to record and distribute.

• Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 1 (TC 1002)
• Laurence Olivier (TC 1003)
• Thomas Mann Reading (German) (TC 1004)
• Tennessee Williams Reading (TC 1005)
• Katherine Anne Porter Reading Downward Path (TC 1006)
• Catcher in the Rye (read by Ray Hagen) (TC 1007)
• Chaucer: Nun's Priest's, Pardoner's Tales (Middle English) (TC 1008)
• Archibald MacLeish Reading (TC 1009)
• Eudora Welty Reading (TC 1010)
• Peter Marshall Speaks (TCR 101/TC 1011)
• Sean O'Casey Reading (TC 1012)
• Osbert Sitwell Reading (TC 1013)
• Israel is Born (TC 1014)
• Ogden Nash Reading (TC 1015)
• Edith Sitwell Reading (TC 1016)
• e. e. cummings Reading (TC 1017)
• Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 2 (TC 1018)
• W. H. Auden Reading (TC 1019)
• Colette Reading (TC 1020)
• Hearing Poetry, Volume 1 (TC 1021)
• Hearing Poetry, Volume 2 (TC 1022)
• The Rubiyat (read byAlfred Drake) (TC 1023)
• Millay Poetry (read byJudith Anderson) (TC 1024)
• Marianne Moore Reading (TC 1025)
• Wordsworth Poetry (read byCedric Hardwicke) (TC 1026)
• Mark Twain (read byWalter Brennan,Brandon deWilde) (TC 1027)
• Edgar Allan Poe (read byBasil Rathbone) (TC 1028)
• Baudelaire Reading (read byEva LeGallienne,Louis Jourdan), (French) (TC 1029)
• Wellsprings of Drama (TC 1030)
• Everyman (read byBurgess Meredith) (TC 1031)
• The Second Shepherd's Play (TC 1032)
• Dr. Faustus (read byFrank Silvera) (TC 1033)
• Greek Prose and Poetry (Greek) (TC 1034)
• William Faulkner Reading (TC 1035)
• Frank O'Connor Reading (TC 1036)
• Leaves of Grass, Volume 1 (read byEd Begley) (TC 1037)
• Just So Stories, Volume 1 (read byBoris Karloff) (TC 1038)
• Conrade Aiken Reading (TC 1039)
• Red Badge of Courage (read byEdmond O'Brien) (TC 1040)
• Vachel Lindsay Reading (TC 1041)
• Poetry of Byron (read byTyrone Power) (TC 1042)
• Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 3 (TC 1043)
• Wilde Fairy Tales (read byBasil Rathbone) (TC 1044)
• T. S. Eliot Reading (TC 1045)
• Walter de la Mare Reading (TC 1046)
• William Carlos Williams Reading (TC 1047)
• Poetry of Browning, Volume 1 (read byJames Mason) (TC 1048)
• 17th Century Poetry (read byCedric Hardwicke,Robert Newton) (TC 1049)
• Gertrude Stein Reading (TC 1050)
• Sermons of Donne (read byHerbert Marshall) (TC 1051)
• Book of Judith, Ruth (read byJudith Anderson,Claire Bloom) (TC 1052)
• Psalms and David (read by Judith Anderson) (TC 1053)
• Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Malory to Donne, Volume 1 (TC 1054)
• Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Burton to Johnson, Volume 2 (TC 1055)
• Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Defoe to Burke, Volume 3 (TC 1056)
• Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Austen to Bronte, Volume 4 (TC 1057)
• Cambridge Treasury of English Prose: Dickens to Butler, Volume 5 (TC 1058)
• Poetry of Shelley (read byVincent Price) (TC 1059)
• Robert Frost Reading (TC 1060)
• Dylan Thomas Reading, Volume 4 (TC 1061)
• Grimm's Fairy Tales (read byJoseph Schildkraut) (TC 1062)
• Joyce's Ulysses (read bySiobhán McKenna,E. G. Marshall) (TC 1063)
• Frank Lloyd Wright Speaking (TC 1064)
• Diego Rivera Speaking (Spanish) (TC 1065)
• Robert Graves Reading (TC 1066)
• Lorca (read byMaria Douglas,Raul Dantes) (Spanish) (TC 1067)
• Wallace Stevens Reading (TC 1068)
• Noel Coward Duologies (read byNoël Coward,Margaret Leighton) (TC 1069)
• Ecclesiastes (read byJames Mason) (TC 1070)
• E. B. Browning Sonnets/Barretts of Wimpole Street (read byKatharine Cornell, Anthony Quayle) (TC 1071)
• German Lyric Poetry (read byLotte Lenya) (German) (TC 1072)
• Andersen Fairy Tales (TC 1073)
• Reluctant Dragon (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1074)
• Pied Piper/Hunting of the Snark (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1075)
• The Book of Job (read byHerbert Marshall) (TC 1076)
• Child's Garden of Verses (read byJudith Anderson) (TC 1077)
• Nonsense Verse (read byBeatrice Lillie,Cyril Ritchard,Stanley Holloway) (TC 1078)
• Juan Ramon Jimenez Reading (Spanish) (TC 1079)
• Poetry of Tennyson (read bySybil Thorndike,Lewis Casson) (TC 1080)
• Poetry of Yeats (read bySiobhán McKenna, Cyril Cusack) (TC 1081)
• Henry Mencken Speaking (TC 1082)
• Jean Cocteau Reading (French) (TC 1083)
• Stephen Spender Reading (TC 1084)
• Song of Songs/Heloise & Abelard (read by Claire Bloom,Claude Rains) (TC 1085)
• Joyce's Finnegans Wake (read bySiobhán McKenna, Cyril Cusack) (TC 1086)
• Poetry of Keats (read byRalph Richardson) (TC 1087)
• Just So Stories, Volume 2 (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1088)
• Rootabaga Stories (read byCarl Sandburg) (TC 1089)^[5]
• Moll Flanders (read bySiobhán McKenna) (TC 1090)
• Mother Goose (read by Cyril Ritchard, Boris Karloff,Celeste Holm) (TC 1091)
• Poetry of Coleridge (read by Ralph Richardson) (TC 1092)
• Boswell's London Journal (read by Anthony Quayle) (TC 1093)
• Apple Cart and Poems by Noël Coward (read by Noël Coward,Margaret Leighton) (TC 1094)
• Picture of Dorian Gray (read byHurd Hatfield) (TC 1095)
• Genesis (read by Judith Anderson) (TC 1096)
• Alice in Wonderland (read byJoan Greenwood,Stanley Holloway, Cast.) (TC 1097)
• Through the Looking Glass (read by Joan Greenwood, Stanley Holloway, Cast.) (TC 1098)
• Gulliver's Travels (read byMichael Redgrave) (TC 1099)
• Kipling's Jungle Books: How Fear Came (read by Boris Karloff) (TC 1100)
• The Bab Ballads ofWS Gilbert andThe Cautionary Tales byHilaire Belloc, (read byStanley Holloway andJoyce Grenfell), (TC1104)
• Ezra Pound Reading (TC 1122)
• Jeeves: (PG Wodehouse), 'Indian Summer of an Uncle'. 'Jeeves Takes Charge': readings by :Judith Furse,Miles Malleson,Terry-Thomas,Rita Webb, andRoger Livesey, (TC-1137) (mono), 1958, and (TC01137-S), stereo, 1964
• Ezra Pound Reading, Volume 2 (TC 1155)
• Poems and Songs of Middle Earth (read byJ. R. R. Tolkien) (TC 1231)
• What is Puerto Rico? (read byGeraldo Rivera) andSo Far (read by Miguel Robles) (TC 1431)
• Alligator Pie and other poems (read byDennis Lee) (TC 1530)
• Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears and Other Tales (read by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis) (TC 1592)
• Churchill in His Own Voice: and the Voices of His Contemporaries (read byLaurence Olivier andJohn Gielgud) (TC 2018)

• List of record labels

• Official Website
• HarperCollins Audio
• Caedmon,HarperCollins Audio, andCaedmon Records at Open Library

• American record labels
• Record labels established in 1952
• Spoken word record labels
• Audiobook companies and organizations
• HarperCollins books

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