Academic literature on the topic 'Redpath Library'

Casey Wood's retirement allowed him time to expand his horizons, both in terms of his travel and the scope of his intellectual enquiries. His ornithological interests in Fiji in the South Pacific and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in South Asia led him to fund the production of two large-scale collections of paintings illustrating the birds of these two islands. Both original collections were reserved for the Blacker-Wood library, but in Ceylon, these paintings also formed the basis of The Coloured Plates of the Birds of Ceylon, published between 1927 and 1935. In Ceylon and Kashmir, Wood collected manuscripts and lithographs, mainly relating to the history of medicine. His collection of palm-leaf manuscripts (olas) from Ceylon was particularly extensive, with over 220 remaining in the Osler and Rare Books and Special Collections branches of the McGill libraries. Wood also collected physical objects, beginning with bird skins, nests, and eggs in Fiji and branching out to include objects associated with healing in Ceylon. The object from Ceylon, numbering around 200, were originally collected for the Medical Museum and are now housed in the Redpath Museum at McGill. They represent a unique resource for the material culture of medicine. Wood's travels brought him into contact with a wide range of people, from the American plant prospector David Fairchild to Rabindranath Tagore, a central figure in the Bengali renaissance. Wood's reflections on his journeys provide some interesting insights into practices of natural history and collecting in late colonial societies on the brink of the second world war.

Canadiana emerged as a collecting focus for McGill even before the opening of Redpath Library in 1893. At first, the emphasis was local—Quebec, including New France—reflecting a lack of concern for other parts of the country, typical of collections at the time. Only in the second half of the twentieth century did this situation change when a vogue for collecting Canadiana spread across the nation to both large and smaller libraries; larger institutions, already possessing strength, extended the depth and breadth of their rare book collections. In the case of McGill, during the ’60s and ’70s, Western Canadiana became a focus for new collecting. This article recounts how McGill developed an important Western Collection and examines the individuals and circumstances responsible for its acquisition, along with a profile and evaluation of its contents. Particular attention is paid to two collectors—Lawrence Lande and Nathan Arkin—two librarians—Richard Pennington and John Archer—and one antiquarian book dealer—Bernard Amtmann. The methodology used for evaluating the Lande and Arkin Western Canadiana Collections may prove helpful to other researchers.ResuméMême avant l’ouverture de la Bibliothèque Redpath en 1893, McGill portait déjà une attention particulière à la collection de publications canadiennes. Au début, le volet local—le Québec, incluant la Nouvelle-France—était accentué, démontrant un manque d’intérêt pour le reste du pays qui était typique des collections de l’époque. Cette situation n’a commencé à changer que dans le seconde moitié du vingtième siècle, quand l’acquisition de publications canadiennes est entrée en vogue à travers le pays, à la fois dans les petites et les grandes bibliothèques. Ces dernières, ayant déjà des fonds documentaires solides dans ce domaine, ont élargi et approfondi leurs collections de livres rares. Dans le cas des collections de McGill, l’ouest canadien est devenu un nouveau pôle d’intérêt durant les années 60 et 70. Cet article décrit le développement à McGill d’une importante collection ouest-canadienne et examine les personnes et les circonstances responsables pour l’acquisition de cette collection, dont le contenu est également résumé et évalué. Une attention particulière est portée à deux collectionneurs — Lawrence Lande et Nathan Arkin—à deux bibliothécaires—Richard Pennington et John Archer—et à un libraire antiquaire—Bernard Amtmann. La méthodologie utilisée pour évaluer les collections Lande et Arkin de publications ouest-canadiennes pourrait se démontrer utile pour d’autres chercheurs.