At its peak, the collection consisted of 3'000 LP's and about 10'000 78 records, many of which were bought in the Soviet Union. Boris Semeonoff had the intention that, after his death, his collection should go to someone or to an institution that would take care of and make the collection accessible to all, preferably intact. Unfortunately that was not possible. However, thanks to London based Peter Lack's good relations with Arne Dørumsgaard, a good portion of the collection is now to be found at the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound.

Semeonoff

Boris Semeonoff was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1910, but grew up in Edinburgh, where he attended George Watson's School. He studied english language and litterature at the University of Edinburgh, where he remained for many years, pursuing an academic career in psychology as well as holding the positions of Editor of the British Journal of Psychology and President of The Psychology Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

In the field of music, he was best known as an opera enthusiast and a record collector with a unique collection. In 1951, he published the book Record Collecting: A Guide for Beginners.

Semeonoff died in 1998.