The Napoleon collection was a particular interest of the University
Librarian, Richard Pennington, (1947-1964) and was developed during
his tenure. Beginning with a small donation of books and prints
from the Canadian publisher Frederick Southam, the collection was
assembled with the advice of Paul Fleuriot de Langle, curator of
the Musée Marmottan in Paris and a specialist in Napoleon and the
art of the Empire, and of the Parisian print dealer Paul Prouté.
The collection comprises some 2,275 monographs, 3,500 prints
(including 110 maps and plans), 200 pictorial documents, 50
broadsides, 350 pamphlets, 100 related printed documents such as
declarations, proclamations and decrees, manuscript material and
some realia. The collection covers all aspects of the Napoleonic
era and the monographs are particularly rich in pre-1850 imprints.
The Napoleon Prints are described as part of the Print Collection.
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This collection was acquired in 1969. The collection comprises
some 687 items dating from the 1920s to the 1960s. Much of the
material is from the United States including a long run of
pamphlets by the American Communist Earl Browder. Other material
comes from China, the former Soviet Union (including a series of pamphlets
by Joseph Stalin), India and other countries. There are numerous
reports of Communist Party meetings from various countries. All of
the material is in English.
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Established ca 1900, the collection has as its nucleus forty
volumes of political pamphlets gathered by Sir John Bramston, M.P.
(1611-1700). To this core, acquired by Mrs. Peter Redpath of
Montreal in 1901, were added a series of tracts given by the
Montreal businessman and philanthropist Peter Redpath in 1880 and
another series given by Mrs. Redpath in 1903. Extensive additions
have been made since. The collection consists of some 20,000
tracts and pamphlets divided into nine series illustrating the
religious, political, literary, scientific and social history of
the British Isles from 1561 to 1900. Representative of the
collection's contents are the extensive holdings on the Popish
plots (1678-1700); twenty volumes of marine tracts (1703-1862);
Scottish tracts (1751-1842); forty-two volumes of the Siemens
scientific pamphlets and six volumes of tracts by William Prynne
(1629-1668).
Description: Allan Bell, "Munificent, Wise and Thoughtful Gifts:
Grace and Peter Redpath and the Redpath Tracts", Fontanus VI
(1993), 45-67.
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The Roy States collection was donated by his estate in 1981.
States, a long-time employee of McGill University, was concerned
both with documenting the Black experience and providing a positive
image for Black youth. To this end, he gathered together a body of
diverse materials concerning Afro-American history. The collection
of some 1,200 items includes monographs, newspapers, off-prints,
articles and some photographs. While much of the material relates
to North America in general, there is material relating to Canada
and Montreal.
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The general rare book collection contains much of the Department's
history material. The holdings for British history of the
seventeenth century are particularly important including copies of
John Rushworth's Historical Collections with interesting
annotations (Description: Daniel German, John Wildman and
Rushworth's Historical Collections: An Editor Identified?" Fontanus
III (1990), 109-114), John Thurloe's Collection of State Papers,
James Macpherson's Original Papers, David Hailes's Memorials and
Letters and other late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
works. Many of these editions are part of the Redpath Historical
Collection. Much of the French material concerns the Revolution
and complements the Napoleon Collection .
Italian material includes many eighteenth century works. Finally,
there is some early material for Eastern Europe and Russia.
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Last modified 97/4/25.