ARCHIVES NEWS Number 31, September 2009

“Richard Outram graduated in Phi- died shortly after in the Peterborough PRIVATE SET losophy and English from the Univer- Civic Hospital on December 7th, sity of in 1953. The summers 2002. Richard never recovered from OF FIRST EDITION spent in the Navy with the Reserve the loss. On the eve of St. Agnes, Officers Training Program served him 2005 – “Ah, bitter chill it was” (Keats) OUTRAM / HOWARD in good stead, for his skill in climbing – he took some sleeping pills, settled ropes and moving among high rigs down on an outdoor porch and drifted BOOKS & BROADSHEETS opened a job as stage hand with the off to be rejoined with her in death.” fledgling TV department of the CBC. RECEIVED Once he had set some money aside John W. Burbidge he took off for . When those Trent University Professor Emeritus Trent University funds ran out he got a job with BBC TV, again as a stage hand. More Archives and importantly, in England he met Bar- Special Collec- bara Howard, a recent graduate of tions has recently the College of Art, and they APPOINTMENT acquired a set of fell deeply – and irrevocably – in love. approximately At the same time he discovered his Trent University Archives forty books and vocation as a poet. is pleased to announce the broadsheets by the poet Richard When they returned to Toronto, Rich- appointment of Janice Outram and the wood engraver ard undertook to earn a living as a Millard to the position of Barbara Howard. Donated by John stage hand with the CBC, and Curator of Archives, Spe- Burbidge, Trent University Profes- thereby to set both Barbara and him- cial Collections, Rare sor Emeritus, from his private col- self free to follow their artistic bents. Books and Gifts, replacing lection, the material includes sev- When they came into possession of a Bernadine Dodge, Univer- small letterpress, they collaborated in sity Archivist Emeritus, eral signed first edition books of establishing Gauntlet Press. Richard who retired in June. Librar- poetry and single poems, broad- would write the poetry and look after sheets from Gauntlet Press, a typesetting and printing. Barbara ian at Trent for 35 years, special edition of Canadian Notes would carve wood engravings, and Janice assumed her new & Queries (2003) dedicated to do the binding. role on July 1st. Barbara, and one artefact, a Shy and retiring, Richard refused to wooden sewing frame made by become a part of the “CanLit” scene, Richard for Barbara. and his work, not the most accessi- ble, seldom acquired notoriety. Por- Professor Burbidge acquired the cupine Quill Press, however, has collection through his personal published a number of volumes of his friendship with Richard Outram. A poetry, most recently South of North, member of the Friends of the Bata a set of poems he wrote for the Arts Library, Burbidge’s continued sup- and Letters Club of Toronto. port of the Library through this In retirement, Richard and Barbara donation is gratefully acknowl- moved to Port Hope. In their first year edged. there Barbara fractured her hip, and DIGITIZATIONDIGITIZATION PROJECTS:PROJECTS: OurOur digitizedigitizedd

Handwritten Nineteenth-Century Lakefield Newspaper Now Online Katchewanooka Herald (1855-1859)

n the mid nineteenth century in Lakefield, Ontario, agricultural students from England under the tutelage of I Samuel Strickland handwrote and issued a newspaper called the Katchewanooka Herald. The weekly is- T sues, dated 1855 to 1859, are written in many hands and comprise approximately 150 pages 33 cm x 21 cm in size. Published on Mondays, the original issues, with the occasional accompanying hand-drawn coloured com- T ics, were passed from household to household. Although it is certain that some were lost to posterity, several issues survived, perhaps as many as half of those that were published, and are preserved at Trent University Archives. A transcription of the entire extant run of issues appears on the Archives Web site: http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/83-004.htm

Page 1 of the first issue and a partial sample transcription. Note the variant spellings of “Katchewanooka.”

Kachewanoonka Herald Published every Monday Morning Monday June 11th 1855 Notice All contributors to this Paper are requested to add a signature or Motto to their contributions, otherwise they will not be received. Articles to be sent on or before Friday Evening and directed to Mess’rs Allen & Beatty. Katchewanook Herald We Have received by telegraphic despatch the news of the opening of the Parisian Exhibition. This noble work has at last been finished and adds new lustre to the crown of Louis Napoleon for the noble manner in which he has carried it out, whilest Europe is shaken by a great and destructive war, & the nations of France and England are battering down the walls of Sebastopool ...

The departure of “La Bella Katarina” (Kate Traill, daughter of author Catharine Parr Traill) from “the clearing” in 1856 dd documentdocument repositoryrepository continuescontinues toto grow!grow!

Arthur Frances Stewart Letters Digitization Project Now Online Underway he letters of Irish immigrant, Frances Stewart (1794- I T 1872), are now digitized and appear online on the hanks to the expertise and de- Trent University Archives Web site. A rich legacy of tex- T termination of Trent alumnus, tual documentation dating Frances’s entire life, the hun- Dwayne Collins, a project to digi- dreds of letters represent settler experience in the forma- tize the back issues of the Trent tive years of the nation. The collection includes both University student newspaper, Ar- Frances’s personal writings and the long-awaited letters thur, is now underway. Collins, a of loved ones who wrote to her from the homeland. Fran- current student in the Master of ces arrived in Douro Township with her husband, Tho- Information Studies program at the mas Alexander Stewart (1786-1847), in 1823, settling Faculty of Information, University of near the present site of Thomas A. Stewart Secondary Toronto, has undertaken the daunt- School in Peterborough. ing task of photographing and mounting digital images of the back Transcriptions of the original letters are available at the issues in their entirety. Until re- following URL: cently, back issues were only avail- http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/78-008.htm able in hard copy. Trent University Archives gratefully acknowledges the financial support Published weekly September of the Canadian Council on Archives for this important project. through April since 1966, Arthur is a heavily used resource in the Ar- chives. Digitization will mean less In 1889, Our Forest Home: demand on the fragile original Being Extracts from the Cor- newsprint copies and enable off- respondence of the Late site accessibility for researchers. Frances Stewart, an edited Several volumes are completed compilation of Frances’s let- and now appear online. Over the ters, was published by her coming months the Web presence daughter, Ellen Dunlop. A will continue to be enhanced as second expanded edition, further volumes are digitized. also by Ellen, published in 1902, has been transcribed Arthur in digitized format is avail- and digitized by Archives able at the following URL: staff and it too is available on http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/ the Trent University Archives Arthur/index.htm Web site. A transcription of Our Forest Home (2nd ed.) is available at the following URL: http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/ourforesthome.htm PRIVATE SET OF FIRST EDITION OUTRAM / HOWARD BOOKS & BROADSHEETS RECEIVED

Newsletter Editor: Jodi Aoki, M.A. Hours of Operation: Monday to Friday - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please make an appointment to ensure access. We are located on the first floor of Bata Library.

TRENT UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES THOMAS J. BATA LIBRARY PETERBOROUGH, ON K9J 7B8 Telephone: (705)748-1011x7413 fax: (705)748-1126 email: [email protected] Visit our web site: http://www.trentu.ca/library/archives