"The Paperless Society!"
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ISSUE No. 23, June 1999 ISSN 0840-5565 G^^) "The Paperless Society!" It never ceases to amaze me that we refer placed on the amount of baggage they to see a more personal side of his life. to ourselves as "the paperless society". were allowed to transport, their posses- This gift includes several dozen letters to Despite the computer, paperwork still sions had to be limited to what they felt his wife before their marriage, their abounds and our society still believes they would need to start their new lives. wedding album, and family pictures. firmly in paper - at least judging by the Having to fend for themselves in all Our exhibitions often remind people of donations made last year by numerous matters, including religion, the books treasures they have at home that might Friends of the Fisher Library. We had reflect their need to maintain their faith. enhance our collections. Professor Willard another exceptional year of growth for the The donation includes a Finnish version of Oxtoby's Ext>eriencing India reminded holdings of the Fisher Library and Mrs.-~ett~~etcalfe of a book she the following are only a few of the thought might interest us. It was highlights as viewed through the Charles R. Forrest's A Picturesque eyes of one staff member. Tour Along the Rivers Ganges and It is not always the large Jumna printed in London in 1824. donations that make me stop in my This handsome work contains tracks. More often than not, it is the magnificent illustrations of nine- small treasures that people give us teenth-century India and is indeed for safekeeping that I find the most a valuable addition to our holdings. interesting. This past year Gertrude Professor R.J. Revell also found Allan gave us an edition of the inspiration in this exhibition, works of Robert Bums that had donating, among many other been in her family since being works, several volumes on travel in published in Glasgow in 1867. On the Middle East, including Burton's a recent trip to Toronto, Mrs. Personal Narrative of a PiIgrimage Margaret Ward brought in an to El Medinab and Mekkab edition of Denis le Cartusien's (London, 1857) and Denon's Quatuor Hominis Novissima Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt (Douai, 1627) which had been in Above: "AncientTomb" from Charles R. Forrest's A Picturesque (London, 1803). Hearing about the her family for many years but no Tour Along the Rivers Ganges and Jumna (London, 1824). exhibition, long-time Friend, Mary one knew its significance. A staff Williamson, wanted to know if a member was able to throw some scrapbook of Indian scenes would light on the contents of this religious tract, the New Testament, a Sunday School be acceptable. No ordinary scrapbook, the one of over two hundred written by this songbook, sermons, two works by Martin work turned out to be filled with original Belgian theologian. Now, thanks to the Luther and various other treatises on sketches and watercolours of scenes in generosity of Mrs. Ward and her family, Christianity. The books have been heavily India and England, pressed plants and this book has joined other early imprints used over the past century and we are seaweeds, greeting cards and printed held here. honoured that Professor Lindstrom felt that ephemera. Compiled by Grace Cripps Another fascinating example was the the Fisher Library should become their during the years 1875 to 1880, it was a collection of books brought in by Profes- final resting place. record of the time her father, John Mat- sor Varpu Lindstrom. She had been doing A touching donation came from the thew Cripps, spent as Deputy District research in a Finnish community in son-in-law of James Baillie, noted omi- Commissioner in Rawal Pindi. As well as Saskatchewan, and found a cache of thologist and long-time staff member at the watercolours, the book also contains a nineteenth-century Finnish imprints. the Royal Ontario Museum. Baillie's books silk programme for an evening conceit Questioning the elders, she discovered and papers arrived many years ago and and reading put on by the Fourth Hussars these books had been brought over by the became a major resource for birders all on Easter Thursday, April 20th, 1876, a founding families when they emigrated to over North America. Now, thanks to the printed leaflet entitled "First Lesson Book, the area in 1891. Since restrictions were generosity of Robert Wilson, we are able Hindustanti", and a manuscript leaf headed "The humble petition of Indraj, gift means that we have now increased backing would have tom the map from its bearer of Coll. J.M. Cripps", which deals several collections in strength and depth at upper wooden dowel; this has not been with household matters. This wonderfully a time when many of these works have the fate of these two fine pre-Confedera- evocative item will now join the Fisher become very scarce in the market and tion artifacts. A much smaller item came Library's collection of bound manuscripts. very dear. Robert Brandeis, whose name from the collection of Professor Peter A work with an interesting background has been featured in these reports for Brock. The charming map of Gamey ot came to us from Elizabeth Bacque who several years, also contributed to our [sic] Sarina is undated, but we were able presented us with Claudio Tolomeo's incunabula holdings. His donation of to establish that it was actually detached Geografla (Venice, 1598). Not only is this Guido delle Colonne's Historia from William Camden's Britannia (Lon- a very nice addition to our early imprints, Destructionis Tmiae (1486) presents the don, 1695) and thus is an interesting but it has the added feature of having popular story of the fall of Troy as serious example of seventeenth-century British been presented to her uncle, Verschoyle history. Taken without acknowledgement map-making. The modem era is repre- Blake, by Gilbert Bagnani. These two from a long poem by the twelfth-century sented by Lloyd Brown-John's donation. scholars lived near each other in the tmuv&e, BenoTt de Saint More entitled On a lecture trip in Germany, he found a countryside north of Port Hope and shared Roman de Tmie, this work was printed in collection of World War I and II German common interests. Blake designed the Strassburg by a printer now identified as army field maps. The maps are very renovations to Vogrie, the Bagnani's Georg Husner. detailed and in excellent condition, home, including the large living room I rarely write about our small but although some were used in the field, as which contained their book and art growing map collection, but this has been evidenced by manuscript annotations and collections. As the Fisher Library, several a banner year. We all must remember the overprints of troop dispositions. years ago, was the grateful recipient of oversized maps that hung in classrooms, On the scientific side, our Hannah many of Professor Bagnani's books, we and the use and abuse they received. Last Collection of books on the history of are especially pleased to be able to add February, the heirs of Margaret Scrivener medicine was considerably enhanced in this volume to our holdings. approached the Library with an offer to 1998 by several donations, highlighted by An outstanding collection of some three donate two such maps. They turned out to Mr. and Mrs. Murray Cathcart's gift of The hundred and seventy early printed books be very special examples. The unusually Workes of Ambroise Par6 (London, 1634), came to us this past year from Professor fine condition of Tremaine's Map of Upper and by John Parkinson's Theatrum Ralph Stanton. We are now able to add Canada (Toronto, 1862) and Map of the Botanicum (London, 1640), which came four more incunabula to our growing County of Wellington, Canada West from the collection of Professor Stephen collection of books from the cradle of (Toronto, 1861) drawn by Guy Leslie and Tobe. Nineteenth and twentieth-century printing, including a rubricated 1480 Charles J. Wheelock, indicates that they engineering works selected by Dr. Norman edition of Antoninus Elorentinus, which is were not hung for any length of time. It Ball enriched our holdings in that field, not recorded in any other Canadian was usual that, after a period of time, the while Howard Chapman added to our institution. The range and variety of the sheer weight of the paper and canvas collection of architectural works. One of the Fisher Library's fastest tion of American first editions, as did Cyril MacDonald, and thanks to Mrs. Mitchell, growing collections has been in the field Greenland with a collection of works by we were the recipients of many more of printing history. Through the generosity and about Walt Whitman. items to be added to that collection. of Ron Peters, we were able to add several The works of Anglo-American poet, Harold Kurschenska, a designer at the invaluable works: the completely engraved Thom GUM, have long interested Profes- University of Toronto Press for many Universal Penman by George Bickham, sor Douglas Chambers, who this year years, gave us a variety of finely printed Dard Hunter's Old Papermaking (one of donated a major collection of works by books, works on Canadian private presses, only two hundred copies), and Hunter's and about him. What makes this collection limited editions of Canadian literature and rarest work: Papermaking in Zndo-China. very valuable is that Professor Chambers printing artifacts. His generosity will not We are now the only library in Canada to had done extensive research on the only benefit the Canadiana collections, but have P.-F.