Fontanus - (E-Journal - McGill University)

Möller, Hans

Chronicle 
Fontanus is devoted to a study of the rich treasures in McGill libraries, museums and archives. 
This section of the journal gives a brief description, in random order, of selected, important items 
acquired by McGill during 1988. These acquisitions were made possible largely by generous grants 
from donors, alumni, professors, private benefactors and special grants from the Social Sciences 
and Humanities Research Council of Canada in Ottawa. 
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections acquired the papers of Canadian poet 
Christopher Dewdney (b. 195 1). Included are the manuscripts and related material of all of his books, 
correspondence from writers in Canada, the United States and England, and illustrative material 
such as collages and drawings. 
The library of poet and former McGill law professor, F. R. Scott, was donated by Mrs. Marian 
Scott. The library is comprised of some 1,500 items and is rich in Canadian poetry, fiction and belles- 
lettres. Also included are English and American poetry, QuCbCcois poetry, and books on politics 
and the social sciences. 
Montreal poet Deborah Eibel donated manuscript material and correspondence relating to her 
collections Streets Too Narrow For Parade and Kayak Sickness. 
Dr. J. F. Meakins donated his collection of 59 books by Rudyard Kipling as well as a small collection 
of other English literary books. 
The estate of Dr. J. B. Stirling of Montreal donated 82 books dating from the 18th to the 20th 
century. 
Dr. Lawrence Lande continued to enrich our collections with the donation of several books relating 
to William Blake and a leaf from a 1492 Biblia latina cum postillis. 
The Department acquired the recent papers of Canadian poet Raymond Souster (b. 192 l), including 
the manuscripts of several poetry collections, much correspondence, and a scrapbook of clippings 
and reviews from the 20s and 30s. 
A small batch of manuscripts and letters by Canadian poet Milton Acorn (1923-1986) was acquired. 
This material dates from the late 1950s and early 1960s, when Acorn was beginning to establish 
himself as an important literary figure. 
A group of letters and manuscripts by Stephen Leacock was acquired at a Sotheby's auction in 
London with generous financial assistance from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. 
This material related to submissions made by Leacock to the English magazine Answers. Several 
individual Leacock letters were also purchased to add to the extensive holdings of Leacock material 
in the Department. 
Two bound volumes of watercolour drawings of wildflowers by Montreal artist John Hugh Ross 
were acquired. These date from 1890-91 and are unpublished. They are accompanied by two small 
manuscripts in which the flowers are named and described. 
McGill history professor Philip Longworth donated a manuscript on Russian laws written in English 
ca. 1600. 
The Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art acquired the Marburger Index, a 
photographic and descriptive inventory of Art in Germany. The Marburger Index consists of 
approximately 10,000 microfiches and covers close to one million works of art. Based on the so- 
called ICONCLASS System, the Marburger Index is the most ambitious iconographic inventory in 
existence today. 
In July 1988, B1ackader:Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art was awarded a $28,000 grant 
by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The grant was given 
to purchase additional antiquarian and foreign material in the area of Byzantine and Medieval Art, 
in which this library is particularly strong. 
In December 1988, Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art received a major donation 
for its Canadian Architecture Collection from a distinguished McGill graduate, architect Arthur 
Erickson. The collection contains selected Middle East projects of Mr. Erickson, including the Etisalat 
Tower in Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain University Competition, Madinah Residential Project, Islamic University 
of Madinah, Technical University of Saudi Arabia, King Faisal Air Force Academy and Mosque, the 
Abu Nuwas Conservation Development Project in Baghdad and the Fintas Town Centre in Kuwait. 
Through grants from SSHRC, the Marvin Duchow Music Library has established an archive of 
microforms which will contain all of the extant sources of sacred and secular Renaissance vocal 
music. The 1988 grant concentrated on the acquisition of the complementary manuscript sources 
in microform. The films will provide direct support for large-scale projects in the performance 
practice of Renaissance music, that is, the collection and collation of variant readings of individual 
motets. This research will form the basis for a series of publications devoted to variants in motet 
sources and, in turn, these publications will generate scores used for performance and commercial 
recording projects. 
From Mr. Talbot Johnson, we acquired as gifts two interesting 18th century works: 
Auguste Calmet. Dictionnaire historique et critique de la Bible. Paris, 1730. 4 volumes folio. 
Bernard Picart. Ct?rhonies et coutumes religieuses de tous lespeuples du Monde. Amsterdam, 
1741. 7 volumes folio. 
May Cutler, Tundra book publisher and the Mayor of Westmount, Quebec, donated a collection 
of books and newspapers on the Quebec Independence Movement and the October 1970 crisis. 
Professor Robert W. Stevenson donated some 600 books on world religions with emphasis on 
Buddhism and Hinduism. 
Dr. Hans Moller, Research and Development Librarian, donated a collection of 151 books of 
classical fiction in Danish and Swedish. 
The late Guy Glover of Hudson, Quebec, donated a copy of Orchidaceae published by Bourton 
Press in 1976. This volume is number 25 of a limited edition of 600. 
Professor Lewis Pyenson donated an important collection of "Einsteiniana and history of modern 
physics." 
Mr. John Mappin donated a copy of Stephen Leacock's Humour and Humanity, London: 
Thornton Butterworth, 1937 (proof copy with full-page presentation inscription to Norman Friedman 
dated November 9, 1937). 
Professor P. F. McCullagh gave the library a valuable collection of some 200 books in the field 
of classics, mostly books by Greek and Roman writers as well as literary criticism and history of 
the Ancient World. 
Mr. John Black of the Marvin Duchow Music Library donated a collection of 292 long-playing 
records to the Marvin Duchow Music Library. 
Several major microform collections were purchased as regular library acquisitions: 
Information Control and Propaganda; the Records of the U. S. Office of War Information, 
Parts 1-11, 1942-45. 
The Listener, 1929-1986, published by the British Broadcasting Corporation. 
The British Cabinet Office's Cabinet minutes and memoranda, 1916-1945 (CAB 23-24, 65-66). 
A gift from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in Bonn-Bad Godesberg and the Consulate 
General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Montreal consisted of the following microform sets: 
Protokolle der deutschen Bundesversammlung, v. 1-58, 18 16- 1866 
Stenographische Berichte iiber die Verhandlungen des Reichstages des norddeutschen Bundes, 
Berlin, 1867-1870. 
Stenographische Berichte iiber die Verhandlungen des deutschen Reichstages, Berlin, 
1871-1881. 
The Parish of St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church donated 637 volumes of books from 
the personal library of the Very Economus Michael Zarbatany (1884-1960). The collection consists 
mainly of Arabic books and periodicals on Christian and Islamic topics. It contains a number of 
rare Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian 19th-century publications. 
McGill's fine collection of source material in the history of science has been enriched once again 
through the generosity of the late Dr. Donald Mossman. Some years ago, the Mossman Fund provided 
Landmarks of Science, housed in the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library, Macdonald Stewart 
Library Building. The Library has now acquired Landmarks 11, the first available monographic 
segments. The material is in microfiche format. 
Professor Theodore Domardzki donated a major collection consisting of some 7,000 books on 
Polish history, culture and literature. 
Through generous grants from the McGill Associates we were able to microfilm back issues of 
the McGill Daily, the oldest student newspaper in Canada. The years 191 1-1950 have been filmed. 
An extensive and valuable collection of 19th-century French medical theses was acquired for 
the Osler Library of Medical History. It includes no fewer than 22,500 theses. 
The Osler Library of Medical History was awarded a $10,000 grant by the Social Sciences and 
Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to strengthen its specialized collection. 
The McCord Museum of Canadian History has prepared a two-volume inventory of the McCord 
Family Papers, 1760-1945, thanks to a generous grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities 
Research Council (SSHRC). 
The Director of Libraries, Dr. Eric Ormsby, published The McGill Libraries Guide, an illustrated 
introduction to the University's 19 Libraries including brief descriptions of their histories and 
collections. 
The famous Feather Book by Dimisio Minaggio (Milan 1618) held by the Blacker-Wood Library 
of Biology was displayed in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. For this exhibition, a 
richly-illustrated colour catalogue was published under the title Un bestiario barocco. 
Hans Moller 
Editor 


English

Chronicle

Davis, Davena

The Gardens of the Lord: A Description of the Moravian Church in Labrador, and the Lande Collection, entitled 'The Moravian Missions to the Eskimos of Labrador'

Gacek, Adam

Arabic Calligraphy and the "Herbal" of al-Ghâfiqî: A Survey of Arabic Manuscripts at McGill University

Hobbins, A.J.

René Cassin and the Daughter of Time: The First Draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

-, -

Back cover

Editorial

Friends of the Library

The W. D. Lighthall and the Lighthall family papers constitute a rich but largely unexplored source for Canadian literary, social and political history of the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The greater part of W. D. Lighthall's papers are held by the Department of Rare Books and Spoecial Collections, McGill University Libraries, but the National Archives of Canada (Ottawa), and the McCord Museum of Canadian History (Montreal), have important holdings as well. The purpose of this paper is to make this ,aterial better known to researchers by exploring some of the major subjects docuemntated in the Lighthall Papers

Virr, Richard

Son of the Great Dominion: W.D. Lighthall and the Lighthall Family Papers

Groen, Frances

Margaret Ridley Charlton, Medical Librarian and Historian: An Evaluation of her Career

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