The collection constitutes part of the personal library of the
Canadian poet Ralph Gustafson (1909-1995). He began to collect
seriously during the Second World War as part of his work on an
anthology, the Penguin Book of Canadian Verse. The collection was
acquired in 1991 and has been kept as a unit. It consists of
volumes of Canadian poetry covering the century, or so, from
roughly 1880 to 1980. It is rich in presentation and association
copies and contains most of the rarest books of Canadian verse
since the time of the Confederation poets. The rarities include
W.W.E. Ross's Sonnets and Laconics, Dorothy Livesay's Green
Pitcher, and virtually complete runs of the books by F.R. Scott,
John Glassco, Louis Dudek, Irving Layton and others. There are
some 2000 titles.
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The collection was formed in 1946 from Stephen Leacock's bequest of
his literary manuscripts and a gift of Leacock books from the
Montreal book collector Norman H. Friedman. It comprises 265
monographs; 53 portraits and drawings; 2.1 linear metres of
literary manuscripts. The collection includes first, variant and
signed editions of Leacock's works; periodical articles by Leacock;
books about Leacock; books owned by Leacock, photographs and
portraits. The manuscripts include drafts of many of his books and
articles as well as some correspondence both to and from Leacock.
Description: Bruce Whiteman, "Leacock Remains at McGill", Fontanus
VII (1994), 11-14. The manuscripts are described under Canadian
Literature in the Manuscript section.
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The first accession of the library of the Canadian poet and lawyer
F.R. Scott (1899-1985) came in 1988, the gift of Mrs. Marian Scott.
The library contains volumes of Canadian (English and French),
American and English poetry from the 1920s to the 1980s, and much
fiction, belles-lettres, non-Canadian literature, and books on
political and social issues. The second accession of books, mainly
on English literature and politics, was received in 1994. Included
are Marianne Moore's Poems (1921, her first book), many titles by
T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden, Edith Sitwell, and a run of the 1930s Paris
review Transition. The library demonstrates the breadth of
Scott's intellectual, political and literary interests. There are
about 3000 titles.
Description: Bruce Whiteman, "The F.R. Scott Library", Fontanus
II (1989), 97-101.
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The general rare book collection is particularly strong in its
holdings of Canadian poetry. The poetry collection of W.D.
Lighthall, donated in 1912, included some 105 volumes of Canadian
verse that he used in the preparation of his Songs of the Great
Dominion (1889). Many of the volumes are presentation copies and
contain inscriptions, annotations and letters. The works of many
lesser Canadian poets and versifiers have been added in recent
years. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century fiction is also
well represented. Of particular note are the long runs of novels
by Sara Jeannette Duncan, May Agnes Fleming and Frank L. Packard
among others.
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The collection was established in 1953, the nucleus being the two
hundred and fifty items donated by Dr. Lawrence Lande. It has been
added to regularly. The collection includes first, early and
variant editions of William Blake's literary works and his
illustrations for books by Blair (The Grave), Young (Night
Thoughts) and others. As well, there are facsimiles of Blake's
coloured works; original engravings by Blake and his school; and
editions of works by his friends and followers such as Fuseli,
Palmer and Calvert. There is also modern criticism of Blake.
There are some 1601 books and serials, 1173 slides, 53 engravings,
21 drawings; 36 reproductions, etc.
Description: A Catalogue of the Lawrence Lande William Blake
Collection in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
of the McGill University Libraries. Montreal: McLennan Library,
1983.
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The 52 titles in this collection include many first and early
editions of Burton's works. A number of the volumes have the
bookplate of the Canadian financier Sir George Stephen, Bart (Lord
Mount Stephen, 1829-1921). Other titles and editions of Burton's
works are in the general rare book collection.
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In 1991 the Department acquired this Thomas Chatterton Collection
containing books by and about the English poet Thomas Chatterton
(1752-1770). The collection of forty-nine items includes first
editions of The Auction: A Poem (1770), The Execution of Sir
Charles Bawdin (1772) and The Revenge (1795); and a copy of the
second edition of the Poems, Supposed to Have Been Written at
Bristol, By Thomas Rowley (1778 þ the first and third were already
among the Department's holdings). As well, there is a copy of Sir
Herbert Croft's scarce novel Love and Madness (3rd ed., 1780) which
prints some of Chatterton's letters; several books and pamphlets on
the Rowley controversy; and many later editions of Chatterton's
poems, as well as biographical and critical works.
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The collection was acquired in 1992 from an American family that
had been friends of Walter de la Mare (1873-1956). The collection
includes most of Walter de la Mare's published writings, often in
multiple editions; in many cases the dust jacket is present. Many
of the volumes are author's presentation copies. The collection
includes 135 titles, 89 letters from de la Mare, 3 photographic
portraits and numerous offprints.
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The nucleus of the collection was given to the library in 1946 by
the Montreal book collector Norman H. Friedman. To this was added
the library's holdings of Kipling and subsequent purchases. The
collection of some 1541 items includes first, early, variant and
collected editions of Kipling's works. As well, single issues of
periodicals containing articles and stories by Kipling are in the
collection. Other material includes scrapbooks of clippings by and
about Kipling, some secondary works including bibliographies; a
manuscript Traffics and Discoveries (1904) and autograph letters.
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The Hannah More collection includes many early and later editions
of the English religious writer's more important works on education and morals as well as many
of the minor items such as plays and poetry. There is a run of
thirty-five of the first printing of Cheap Repository Tracts,
sixteen of which are by More (1745-1833) as well as a prospectus
for the Tracts and later printings of the Tracts. Other holdings
include a copy of Elizabeth Montagu, An Essay on the Writings and
Genius of Shakespear fifth edition (1785) with a presentation
inscription from the author to Hannah More in More's hand.
Autograph letters by More and her sisters are held in the
Manuscript Collection.
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The D.H. Lawrence collection, some sixty titles, is particularly
rich in first, early and variant editions. There is also early
criticism.
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The collection was purchased in 1970 from the collector Thomas
Judson Jackson of Carbondale, Illinois. It includes early and
variant editions of Malcolm Lowry's published works and
translations of Under the Volcano. As well, there are books and
periodicals containing contributions by Lowry; books by his wife
and books and periodicals mentioning him or containing reviews and
criticism. There is correspondence between the Canadian poet Earle
Birney and Thomas J. Jackson concerning the preparation of a
bibliography (unpublished) of Lowry's work (1966-1970). There are
some 360 items in the collection.
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The collection was formed by the Montreal book collector Norman H.
Friedman and given to McGill in 1946. It includes some 450 first,
early, signed and variant editions of books by Morley (1890-1957)
and books to which he contributed.
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The collection was purchased in 1954 and includes over four hundred
books on Shakespeare, his plays and the Elizabethan theatre; and
some two hundred pamphlets, reviews, transcripts of lectures,
magazine articles and brochures, for the years between 1850 and
1950. The collection is complemented and supplemented by the
Department's extensive holdings of Shakespearean material including
copies of the second and fourth folios, and numerous eighteenth-and
nineteenth-century editions of the plays, many from the nineteenth-
century Montreal collector and dealer in antiquities T.D. King.
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The C.P. Snow collection was given to the library in 1987 by its
creator Brian Coleman of Vancouver. The collection of some sixty-
seven volumes includes both first and later editions of Snow, both
fiction and non-fiction. There is an uncorrected proof copy of The
Malcontents and a number of autographed copies. Eighty percent
have their dustjacket.
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The collection was given to the library in 1946 by the Montreal
book collector Norman H. Friedman. The some 150 volumes in the
collection include first and early edition of Stevenson's works and
books about Stevenson.
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The William Butler Yeats collection is composed of first, early and
variant editions of most his writings, some eighty-six volumes in
all. There is some criticism and a few books by his son Jack
Butler Yeats. The Yeats material is complemented by a selection of
material in the Colgate History of Printing Collection published by
the Cuala Press. This includes a complete run of A Broadside
(1908-1915), early works by Yeats and others and some of their more
recent works dealing with the Celtic Twilight.
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The general rare book collection includes a varied selection of
English drama, poetry and fiction from the sixteenth to the
twentieth centuries comprising the works of both major and minor
authors. The holdings of eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-
century English drama are extensive. There is much minor poetry of
the eighteenth century and some major figures of the nineteenth
century such as William Wordsworth (Lyrical Ballads, 1800) are
represented. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century novelists like
Walter Scott, Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, George Gissing, A.
Conan Doyle, Wyndham Lewis (including a copy of Vortex) and Aldous
Huxley are present as are the works of such minor figures as
Baroness Jemima Montgomery Tautphoeus (1807-1893). There is a
small collection of the works of Daniel Defoe and the works of
Jonathan Swift are present in numerous editions. The holdings also
include the small but choice English literature collection of the
Montreal bibliophile Lawrence M. Lande.
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The collection of Crébillon fils (1701-1777) was acquired from a
private collector in 1995. To this were added some titles and
editions already held by the Department. The collection includes
over sixty editions of Crébillon's various books, many of which are
quite scarce. The collection is particularly rich in variants.
For example, Le Sopha is present in three distinct issues of the
first edition of 1742 as well as a separate edition of the same
year. There is also an unrecorded 1782 edition of Le Sopha. Other
works are also present in multiple eighteenth-century editions and
variants. Sixty-seven titles are present and there is one
eighteenth-century English translation.
Description: "Crébillon fils", Coranto, No. 19 (Autumn 1995), 3.
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The Department has significant holdings of eighteenth-century
French literature including thirty-seven original and later
editions of many of the works by Nicolas-Edme Restif de la
Bretonne. For Louis Sébastien Mercier there are four eighteenth-
and early nineteenth-century editions of L'an deux mille quatre
cent quarante as well as two English translations from the same
period and other works. Other authors represented include
Crébillon Père (1674-1762), Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, Bernard de
Fontenelle, Mme. de Graffigny (Lettres d'une peruvienne) and Jean
Henri Maubert de Gouvest (Lettres iroquoises). There are copies of
Charles Garnier's Voyages imaginaires... (1787-1789), Charles
Mayer's Le cabinet des fées et autres contes merveilleux (1785-
1789) and a long run of Bibliothèque universelle des romans (1775-
1781). There are also important holdings of many of the minor
risqué works of the century such as Le Parnasse libertin, ou,
Recueil de poésies libres (1775), Contes des fées nouvelles...le
tout dédie à la volupté (1776) or Les Gaillardises du Frére
Maurice, de l'ordre hospitalier des Moines Débauchés (1785). All
of this material is complemented by and complements the
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Collection.
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The Rilke collection was formed in the late 1950s. The collection
comprises some 300 titles and includes fiction, drama, poetry,
letters and other prose pieces by the Austrian poet (1875-1926).
There are many first and limited editions, as well as later and
collected editions. Many of Rilke's works appear in translations,
primarily in English and French, although there are Italian,
Japanese and Chinese translations of some of the works. A number
of bilingual editions (German/English; German/French) are also
present. A significant part of the collection consists of critical
works on the poet. Most of the material dates from before 1960.
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The collection was donated to the library in 1981 by the family of
the collector, the late Joe Fishstein of New York City. It is
composed primarily of twentieth century Yiddish belles-lettres,
poetry and criticism. While there are many standard works in the
collection, there are, as well, many rare pre-World War II East
European imprints. There are also scrapbooks of photographs and
postcards. The collection includes some 2500 monographs and 200
serials. Many of the volumes are in unusual bindings and covers crafted by Mr. Fishstein himself.
Description: "Fishstein Collection of Yiddish Poetry", Coranto, No.
16 (Spring 1994), 3.
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Last modified 97/4/25.