Fontanus - (E-Journal - McGill University)

Bisson, Michael

Lawson, Barbara

Trigger, Bruce

English

Excavating Collections: Archaeological Finds at the Redpath Museum

McNally, Peter F.

Notes and Comments 
Notes 
1. When Leacock amved in 1901, McGill College had a student population of close to 1,050; in 1936, when he 
left, it had grown to a little more than 3,000 full-time students. 
2. Allan Anderson, Remembering Leacock (Ottawa: Deneau, 1983) provides interesting accounts and testimonials 
from students and colleagues documenting his teaching and various idiosyncracies. 
3. Except Moritz and, to a lesser extent, Legate, his biographers have not consulted the administrative records 
produced by Leacock when communicating with the McGill administration. 
4. According to R. Curry, Leacock saw his application rejected by Mavor in 1901. Ralph L. Curry, Stephen 
Leacock. Humorist and Humanist (New York: Doubleday, 1959), 69; Moritz (p. 93) and Legate (p. 37-38) also 
consider McGill as Leacock's second choice. 
5. McGill University Archives, Records of Principal Peterson, File No. 9, (1892-1904), LA-LE. (RG 2, . . .) 
McLennan Library: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary 
Peter F .  McNally 
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies 
On Friday, June 6, 1969 at 3:00 p.m. following the Spring Convocation held earlier that day, there was a short 
ceremony when the Principal Dr. H. Rocke Robertson, the Chairman of the University Library Committee Dr. 
Stanley Frost, the Director of University Libraries Mr. Keith Crouch, and the Chancellor Mr. Howard I. Ross, after 
delivering brief speeches, officially opened the McLennan Library.' 
This short and subdued ceremony, held in the Library's main hall, contrasts too vividly with the impressive and 
lengthy opening ceremonies held, seventy-six years earlier in 1893 for Redpath Library, to go unmentioned.' To 
begin with, only university officials participated. There was no participation by representatives of the deceased 
benefactor, Isabella Christine McLennan (1870-1960) after whom the library is named, or the alumni or the larger 
civic community beyond the University's gates. By contrast, in 1893 there had been speeches from the benefactor 
Peter Redpath, the Governor General, the Lieutenant Govemor of Quebec, and other distinguished guests in addition 
to the Principal and a representative of the Chancellor. Another major difference from 1893, is that no 
commemorative book accompanied the opening of McLennan Library in which the speeches were recorded and 
intentions of the architect set forth. The tenor of the late 1960s, however, with its strong social opinions and student 
unrest militated against ceremony, celebration, and commemoration. 
Yet McLennan Library, sitting as prominently as it does at the comer of Sherbrooke and McTavish streets, is 
probably the most visible building on the lower campus. In addition, it has proven to be a remarkably effective 
main library. Despite the enormous growth in collections, enrollment, and research activity at McGill during the 
last quarter century, the building has proven capable of handling them with great ease. 
At some time, a full scale description of McLennan Library, its design and construction, will be needed along 
with a discussion of the people involved. The main elements of the story are as follows. In the late 1950s the 
crowded conditions in Redpath Library had made it obvious that a new library building would soon become 
necessary. Miss McLennan, who died in 1960 and whose family had long been benefactors of McGill, left the bulk 
Notes and Comments 
McLennan Library Building, ca. 1970. 
(McGill University Archives) 
Notes and Comments 
of her estate to the Library; this allowed a new building to be seriously considered. In 1962 planning of the new 
building commenced, strongly influenced by the recommendation of two American consultants, McCarthy and 
Logsden, that simply building a stack wing to the south of Redpath Library, as originally intended, would prove 
inadequate. Instead, they advised that a new main library building be constructed. This advice evolved into a 
decision to create a new main library complex: McLennan Library becoming a graduate research library with the 
Graduate School of Library Science having specially designed quarters on the street floor level, and Redpath Library 
becoming primarily an undergraduate library. 
To oversee the new library's design, construction, and use a number of committees were established by the 
University and the Library. Their three main participants were Stanley Frost, Chair of the Library Committee, John 
Archer, Director of University Libraries from 1964 to 1967, and Alison Cole, Associate University Librarian. The 
building's architects were Dobush, Stewart, Bourke, with the major responsibility devolving upon David Bourke, 
a graduate of McGill's School of Architecture who has subsequently become the University's Secretary-General. 
He has vivid memories of being invited by Miss McLennan to the Linton Apartments for tea in 1954, when he won 
the McLennan Travelling scholarship. 
Bourke, Cole, Archer, and Frost created a building that is notable both internally and externally. To begin with, 
the suggestion from some experts of having an underground building was rejected as such libraries can be 
claustrophobic and psychologically unhealthy. Since the building would be very large and would need to be strong 
enough to bear the weight of books, it was decided to construct it in reinforced concrete, with pre-cast concrete 
panels on the exterior, in the international modernist style. Three major design problems presented themselves: 
how to lessen the sheer impression of bulk such a large building must necessarily impart, how to ensure continued 
access to McTavish Street from the southern end of Redpath Terrace, and how to relate the new building to the 
asymmetrical 1893 and 1953 wings of Redpath Library directly to the north. A symmetrical building was the 
perceived solution with its four sides being almost exactly identical; although the building is rectangular, its north 
and south sides being somewhat longer than its east and west sides, it appears square. The only major asymmetry 
is on the north side: at the street level there is an entrance to the building and a staircase ascending to the terrace 
level where there is another entrance; there are also two enclosed bridges at the terrace level connecting McLennan 
with Redpath. No visual disruption is caused by the underground tunnel connecting the two buildings. The bridges, 
tunnel, and stairs between the Libraries permitted an open walkway linking the Terrace with McTavish Street. To 
reflect the old wings of Redpath Library, projecting towers were placed on all four sides of McLennan, making it 
a harbinger of postmodernism. The sense of McLennan's bulk is reduced by its four corners being notched and 
by its three horizontal planes: the vertical windows of the street level, the large picture windows of the main level, 
and the horizontal ribbon windows of the five stack levels. 
The interior is characterized by its very large modules created by widely spaced groupings of columns which 
mean that the floors can be adapted for virtually any use. Another characteristic is the placement of the stack 
seating areas along the periphery beside the horizontal windows which permit maximum natural light for reading 
with minimum distraction from outside views. The books are protected from the sun's damaging rays by being 
placed in the centre. 
The new building transformed the McGill library scene. Whereas Redpath Library had seating for only 500, 
McLennan sat 1,500 readers. When the renovation of Redpath was completed one year later an extra 1,500 seats 
became available in the main library complex for a total of 3,000. The approximately 700,000 volumes from the 
old library were moved into a building with double that capacity. Staff space which had been extremely cramped 
and inefficient was suddenly very spacious and efficient. The air conditioning system made summer work - for staff 
and users - significantly more comfortable. Finally, it must be remembered that the new building was designed to 
accept two additional stories should the need arise. 
Notes and Comments 
Construction began in the late summer of 1967 for a building whose initial contracts called for expenditures of 
$5,900,000.3 Although an October 1968 opening was hoped for, the actual date was January 2 1, 1969. Eleven days 
earlier on January 10, Redpath Library was closed and a crew of 190 people worked on twenty-four hour a day 
shifts moving out all the books and furniture and leaving an empty shell. Its interior was subsequently gutted and 
rebuilt during 1969-1970 to accommodate the Undergraduate Library in the three lower stories and the Blacker- 
Wood and Blackader-Lauterman Libraries in the upper stories. Although the Undergraduate Library was disbanded 
in the late 1980s, the spatial configuration of Redpath remains much the same. 
The total cost of building McLeman Library was eventually $7,430,000: $3,050,000 from the estate of Isabella 
McLennan and other bequests, $2,880,000 from the government of Quebec and $1,600,000 from the Canada 
Co~nc i l .~  Although this was a great deal of money at the time, by 1994 standards it seems relatively modest. 
McGill continues to enjoy a main library whose total stack and user capacity has yet to be exhausted. It also enjoys 
an outstanding building whose internal convenience and external prominence continue to attract attention and 
comment. 
One question still remains. When will a plaque be unveiled commemorating Isabella McLeman, the McLeman 
Family, and the Library's formal opening on June 6, 1969? 
Notes 
1. The author acknowledges with gratitude the assistance of Mr. David Bourke in writing this article. Also of 
assistance were the following records: McGill University Archives. RG40 Library. Files 621-623 container 0174, 
and file 647 container 0175; McLennan Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Alphabetical 
files, McLennan Library. 
2. Peter F. McNally, "Dignified and picturesque: Redpath Library in 1893," Fontanus, v. VI (1993), 69-84. 
3. "New McGill library designed to break 'bottle-neck' in learning process, " Montreal Star, (August 12, 1967), 23. 
4. "The McLennan Library, " McGill Alma Muter Fund Newsletter, v. 1, no. 2 (February 1969), 3. 
Macdonald Physics Building: 1893-1993 
By Montague Cohen 
Professor, Department of Physics 
This year is the centenary of the opening of three important buildings on the downtown campus: the Macdonald 
Physics Building, the Macdonald Engineering Building and Redpath Hall. Only the first of these (Figure 1) will 
be discussed in this article. 
The teaching of physics at McGill began in 1854, when the Department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 
was set up. However, little progress was made in teaching 'practical science' before 1878, when the Faculty of 
Applied Science was inaugurated, with Henry T. Bovey, Professor of Civil Engineering, as Dean. The next step 
was taken in 1891, when Sir William Macdonald endowed a chair of physics and John Cox, a Fellow of Trinity 
Collge, Cambridge, was appointed as the first incumbent. Macdonald also provided generous funds for erecting 
and equipping a physics building and Cox was asked to visit laboratories in Europe and America to gamer ideas 
as to the design and furnishing of such a building. The architect chosen was Andrew T. Taylor. 


McLennan Library: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary

Michel, Robert H.

The General Portrayed: Sir Arthur Currie and his Painters

Gareau-Des Bois, Louise

Hugh MacLennan As I Knew Him

Notes and Comments 
6. As listed in 7he International Who's Who entry. See also Publications of T.H. Clark as provided by Ingrid 
Birker of Redpath Museum. 
7. Publications of T.H. Clark as provided by Ingrid Birker of Redpath Museum. 
Beatrice V. Simon (1899-1994) 
Peter F .  McNally 
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies 
Beatrice V. Simon, a leading figure in Canadian librarianship, died in Kitchener Ontario, on February 8, 1994. 
Although her career was spent entirely at McGill University, she enjoyed both a national and an international 
reputation. ' 
Born on November 29, 1899 she was educated at the Montreal High School for Girls and at Stanstead College 
(Quebec). As a result of travelling with her parents to Argentina and the United States -where her father worked 
as an engineer - her education at McGill was interrupted, and she completed her B.A. only in 1943. Her 1950 
M.A. thesis in Comparative Literature was on "Autobiographical Writing of Some North American Indians: a 
Critical Study of Their Origin and Development. " 
Although she studied art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Penn. in 1920-1921 and worked 
for a short period as a freelance commercial artist, her life-long career was to be in librarianship. In 1927-1928 
she took the one year Diploma in Library Science which had just been introduced by the McGill Library School. 
For the next forty-one years, between 1928 and 1969, she divided her career between the School and the McGill 
Libraries. Her first professional position was in the Medical Library where she served as Assistant Cataloguer 
(1928-1930) and Head of Serials (1930-1938). During this period she began teaching in the Library School which 
by now had become a graduate program offering a Bachelor of Library Science. Between 1935 and 1938 she taught 
as a part-time instructor and between 1938 and 1943 as a full-time faculty member, lecturing on Cataloguing, 
Indexing, Serials, and Special Libraries. 
During this same period, she became active in the Special Libraries Association, becoming President of the 
Montreal branch in 1936-1937 and Second Vice-president of the international organization in 1949-1950. It was 
in Britain, however, where she achieved her first international recognition. During 1938-1939 under the sponsorship 
of the Rockefeller Foundation she undertook surveys of British medical libraries for the Royal College of Surgeons 
which resulted in the development of co-operative programs. The major publication from this project was A Survey 
of Medical Library Facilities in London. Plans for a similar study in France were interrupted by World War 11. 
In 1943, at the request of Principal F. Cyril James, she rejoined the Library staff, although she continued giving 
the Special Libraries course at the School until 1951. Between 1943 and 1947 she established the Commerce 
Library (forerunner of the Howard Ross Management Library) and ran the Law Library. The Principal was so 
impressed with her achievements that he appointed her Assistant University Librarian in 1947, concurrently with 
his appointing Richard Pennington University Librarian. 
In theory, the combination of Pennington and Simon should have been excellent. His very unstructured and 
traditional approach and her very structured and organizational approach should have complimented one another. 
In fact, their personalities clashed and they were never able to develop an harmonious working relationship. This 
situation was exacerbated by the Principal having appointed Simon as Pennington's Assistant, without first consulting 
him. 
Notes and Comments 
That said, Beatrice Simon's contribution to the running of the McGill libraries was enormous. Between 1947 
and 1956 she co-ordinated activities between Redpath Library and the various faculty, school, and departmental 
libraries. During 1951-1953 she developed the Physical Sciences Library (forerunner of the Physical Sciences and 
Engineering Library) through the amalgamation of a number of departmental libraries. From 1956 to 1965 she was, 
in effect, the head of public services in Redpath Library. 
During the 1950s she was actively involved in the Quebec Library Association, becoming its President in 1959- 
60. In 1961 she was President of the Canadian Library Association's University Libraries Committee (forerunner 
of the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries). Her greatest accomplishment of this period, and 
the one for which she will probably be best remembered, was her 1962 report on libraries for the Canadian 
Association of Medical Colleges. It was published by the Association in 1964 as Library Support of Medical 
Education and Research in Canada. A French-language version was published the same yeat as Les besoins de la 
biblioth2que rnkdicale pour 1 'enseignement et la recherche. It was a landmark study which resulted in an enormous 
increase of support for Canadian medical libraries. The fruits of her labour continue to be felt today. In 1969 the 
Special Libraries Association held its annual conference in Montreal where she was awarded its Professional Award 
in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the practise, study and teaching of librarianship and in particular 
recognition of her 1962 repok2 
As for her McGill career it took a radical change of direction in the 1960s. The great initiatives and 
developments experienced by Canadian higher education in that decade resulted in much critical attention being paid 
to libraries in general and the McGill libraries in particular. Although criticism at McGill was directed primarily 
at Richard Pennington and resulted in his stepping down as University Librarian in 1964, some criticism was also 
directed at Beatrice Simon. Their refusal to speak with one another, publicly or privately, caused justifiable disquiet 
which undermined the credibility of both. That both should have retired in 1965 seemed ironically appropriate to 
many people. 
At this point she returned as a Sessional Lecturer to what had by then become the Graduate School of Library 
Science, where from 1965 to 1969 she taught Administration as well as College and University Libraries. Her 
required course in Administration was part of the reorganized cumculum of the newly inaugurated two year Master 
of Library Science Program. The course is particularly significant because it was the first attempt in any library 
school to teach management theory. Students of that period remember her as an excellent lecturer, always able to 
illustrate theories and principles with examples from her own career. Although her penetrating eyes and questions 
could be troubling for some people, her effectiveness in communicating the essence of administration was 
universally acknowledged. 
It was with pleasure and surprise that friends and colleagues learned in 1979 of her marriage to Hermann G. 
Stockwell, following which she moved from Montreal to Ontario. Her later years were marked, unfortunately, by 
poor health, which thwarted plans to revise her Master's thesis for publication. 
Beatrice Vina Simon Stockwell will be remembered as an attractive, energetic and intelligent woman who paid 
great attention to her personal appearance and stylish wardrobe. She held strong opinions on most issues and 
expressed them freely and effectively. Neither her competence nor intellectual grasp of situations nor leadership 
abilities were ever in doubt. The deep satisfaction she took from her association with McGill University its 
Libraries and Library School was greatly evident. Her commitment to librarianship, and to its highest standards, 
was beyond question; her contribution to its public recognition as an academic profession was immense. She was 
an exacting person to work for or to study under. But her very seriousness kept those around her aware of the great 
importance she attached to librarianship and to intellectual achievement. By any standard, she must be considered 
one of the most distinguished and effective librarians of her generation. 
Notes and Comments 
A Selective Bibliography of B.V. Simon's Publications 
A Survey of Medical Library Facilities in London for Post-Graduate Students and Research Workers Including a 
Suggested Scheme for the Re-organization of the Library of Royal College of Surgeons. Montreal: McGill 
University Library School, 1938. 
"Planning a Company Library. " Business Quarterly, v. 16, no. 1 (Spring 1946): 39-46. 
"Let's Consider Serials Realistically. " Library Journal, v. 7 1, no. 17 (October 1, 1946): 1296-1301. 
"The Training of Medical, Hospital and Nursing Librarians. " Special Libraries, v. 39, no. 3 (March 1948): 71-76. 
"Cataloguing of Periodicals. " Ontario Library Review, v. 33, no. 3 (August 1949): 237-45. 
Library Support of Medical Education and Research in Canada: Report of a Survey of the Medical College 
Libraries of Canada, Together with Suggestions for Improving and Extending Medical Library Service at Local, 
Regional and National Levels. Ottawa: Canadian Association for Medical Colleges, 1964. 
Les besoins de la biblioth2que midicale pour l'enseignement et la recherche. Quaec: Universitk Laval, 1964. 
"The Need for Administrative Know-how in Libraries." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, v. 57, no. 
2 (April 1969): 160-170. 
Notes 
1. The assistance of the following people in writing this appreciation is gratefully acknowledged: Ms. Fay Lando- 
Little, Toronto, Ontario; Mrs. M.A. Flower, Kingston, Ontario; Mrs. Nellie Reiss, Mrs. Elizabeth Silvester, and 
Dr. Stanley Frost, McGill University. 
2. "SLA professional award/1969," Special Libraries, v. 60, no. 6 (July-August, 1969): 406. 
The Rutherford Museum 
By Montague Cohen 
Professor, Deparmtent of Physics 
The Rutherford Museum of McGill University contains a collection of about 35 pieces of original research 
apparatus designed and used by Ernest Rutherford during his tenure as Macdonald Professor of Experimental 
Physics from 1898 to 1907. In addition, there are documents, letters, photographs and other memorabilia. Until 
recently the museum was housed in a room in the old Macdonald Physics Building where Rutherford actually 
worked, although this building was converted into a library (Physical Sciences and Engineering) in 1977. In 1993 
it was decided to move the museum to the new Physics Building, appropriately named the Rutherford Physics 
Building, on the upper campus. The museum was officially re-opened on October 1, 1993 by the University 
Chancellor, Gretta Chambers, and a public lecture on "Rutherford at McGill: Life and Science" was given by the 
Museum Curator, Professor Montague Cohen. 


Beatrice V. Simon (1899–1994)

Whiteman, Bruce

Leacock Remains at McGill 
Some Notes on the Stephen Leacock Collection 
by Bruce Whiteman 
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Libraries, houses one of Canada's major 
collections of Stephen Leacock books and manuscripts. fiis article describes the origins of the collection and the 
role of Leacock himsev, and of his student, the Montreal book collector, Norman H. Friedman, in its foundation. 
Le dtpartement des livres rares et collections spe'ciales des biblioth2ques de I'Universitt McGill abrite 1 'une des plus 
importantes collections canadiennes d 'ouvrages et de manuscrits de Stephen Leacock. Cet article dtcrit les origines 
de la collection et le r6le qu'ont jout Leacock lui-meame et son ttudiant, le collectionneur de livres montre'alais 
Nomzan H. Friedman, duns sa fondation. 
lthough we mark this year as the fiftieth 
anniversary of Stephen Leacock's death on 
March 28, 1944, it is also worth remarking 
that it was exactly a century ago, in 1894, 
that Leacock publishedhis earliest writing, twelve years 
before his first book. Fifty years of writing produced 
an enormous quantity of books and magazine pieces, 
and Leacock's fame meant that most of those books 
appeared in many editions and translations, both during 
and after his lifetime. The dedicated Leacock collector 
will not need an infinitely deep pocketbook, for the 
majority of the books is not particularly expensive; a 
great deal of shelf-space, however, is a sine qua non. 
A single example may stand for many. Leacock's 
first collection of humour, Literary Lapses, was printed 
for the author by the Gazette Printing Co. and 
published on April 9, 1910 in an edition of 3,100 
copies, after Houghton, Mifflin (who published his 
Elements of Political Science in June of 1906) had 
rejected it. The book sold "like hot pop corn" and 
"like hot cakes," as the author remarked later in 
inscribing two separate copies,' and it has never been 
out of print. In addition to three copies of the first 
edition, the McGill collection includes copies of the 
first English edition (John Lane, 1911), an undated 
Musson edition (with an ownership inscription dated 
January 7, 1913); the "seventh edition" with the spine 
imprint of S.B. Gundy (1915), the first Penguin 
paperback edition (1939), the first New Canadian 
Library edition (1957) and a 1965 impression of the 
same, and the Collins White Circle paperback edition of 
1945 (Canadian bibliographer R.E. Watters's copy). 
Added to these must be appearances of individual 
stories in the book - "My Financial Career," for 
example, in the issue of Life for April 11, 1895, or as 
part of a group of miniature books published during the 
second World War by the Knights of Columbus - as 
well as translations into Romanian ("Cariera mea de 
Financiar") and Russian ("Moia finansovaia ker'era"). 
These items by no means represent completely the 
publishing history of Literary Lapses, but from them 
one can get some sense of the multiplicity of editions 
and forms that Leacock's work has taken over the last 
century. 
The basis of the Leacock collection in the 
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections was 
formed by two important gifts. Leacock himself left a 
large aggregation of manuscripts ("literally barrels of 
manuscripts" as a Montreal newspaper described the 
gift at the time)3 in his will, and this gift arrived at the 
library in August of 1944. Included are partial or 
complete manuscripts for many of his books, among 
them Arcadian Adventures With the Idle Rich (1 9 14). 
Leacock had also donated a few manuscripts shortly 
before his death, most importantly those of Charles 
Dickens, His Lqe and Work (1933) and Humour and 
Humanity (1937). 
The second major donation was the private Leacock 
collection of Norman H. Friedman which he donated in 
1945 and 1946. Friedman (1900-1981) was a student 
of Leacock's at McGill (his Bachelor of Commerce 
degree was conferred in 1921) and was one of the 
library's major donors. His gifts included collections 
Fontanus MI 1994 
Leacock Rem zins at  McGill 
of Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, 
Christopher Morley, and the Boy Scout Movement, in 
addition to Leacock and a small collection of general 
books. A collection of the work of Arthur Szyk was 
also acquired from him by purchase. He was a 
successful businessman and manufacturer (candy and 
clothing), and collecting books was his passion. At the 
time of the gift, his Leacock collection was certainly the 
richest in private hands. After graduation he remained 
in touch with the writer, and indeed Leacock made a 
visit to his home in 1937 to look at the collection. On 
that visit he wrote the following in Friedman's guest 
book: 
Looking over your wonderful and flattering 
collection of my works makes me almost 
want to hurry up to be dead, so that they 
can be aired out on exhibition at McGill 
and draw tears that will almost drown the 
statue on the campus that holds the tear 
Staying in touch with Leacock allowed Friedman to get 
many of his books signed and inscribed, and indeed a 
number of them were gifts from Leacock himself. 
Friedman kept a list of the collection with notes on 
the source and cost of each title, as well as the date 
when he received it. Most of his Leacock books were 
bought in Montreal, but he also acquired some 
American editions from the Gotham Book Mart in New 
York and scarcer items from Dora Hood in Toronto 
and Bertram Rota in London.' His copy of Leacock's 
edition of Lahontan's Voyages, for example, was 
acquired (as a gift, according to a pencilled note in the 
copy) from the Dora Hood Book Room in 1939, seven 
years after publication. This book was long considered 
a great rarity, and the following note in Leacock's 
hand, written on p. [iv] of the Friedman copy, explains 
why: 
I received, through Dr Burpee of Ottawa, a 
contract with the Graphic Co to do an 
introduction to Lahontan's journal with 
notes ... The company failed & paid 
nothing . . . But I found out long afterwards 
that some copies of the book had gone 
through the press though it was never on 
the market. I was never able to get a 
Today the book is certainly scarce, but it is not as rare 
as Leacock thought; presumably at some point after the 
bankruptcy of Graphic Publishers in 1932, part of the 
edition was remaindered or otherwise came on the 
market. 
In addition to books and manuscripts, the Friedman 
Leacock collection includes photographs and other 
graphic material, clippings and related ephemera (most 
interestingly a scrapbook about Leacock kept by 
Friedman in the 1930s and 1940s), some 
correspondence, and some personal papers, including 
the book list already cited. It is in all an extensive 
author collection and formed a broad base on which the 
McGill Leacock holdings have since ramified and 
expanded. 
In the almost fifty years since Norman Friedman 
donated his Leacock collection to McGill, a number of 
important additions have been made both by gift and by 
purchase. In 1968, Dr. Orville W. Oughtred presented 
a group of nine letters, mainly to Leacock's mother and 
his brother Charles. In 1976, the private Leacock 
collection of John R. Witham was acquired at the 
Montreal Book Auctions (lot 27 in the sale of October 
26). The collection included books, manuscripts, and 
a few letters, as well as an associated group of 
typescripts and proofs known as the British and 
International Press Ltd. Collection. 
In 1984, with the help of a grant from the Social 
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 
a group of manuscripts and letters was acquired from 
Mr. J. Robert Janes, whose father was Leacock's 
godson. The clou in the Janes collection is a notebook 
or diary of his publishing and speaking career that 
Leacock kept from January 7, 1901 ("First Lecture at 
McGill") to 1925. This notebook will be of immense 
importance to anyone brave enough to tackle Leacock's 
immense bibliography. A few representative entries 
from 1910 suggest its bibliogmphical richness: 
April 1st Article. The Apology of a 
Professor [.I University Magazine. 
Saturday April. 9. Publication of 
"Literary Lapses", A Book of 
Sketches 
May-June 1910. Series of V. Articles in 
Montreal Standard on Questions of 
Leacock Remains at McGill 
the Day I. Socialism. 11. Germany : 
m] S. Africa [.I IV Imperial Unity 
[.I V. The Lords 
June. Articles Hudson Bay : Canada & 
the World's Wheat Supply : Canadian 
Women in the World of Art 
Publishers Press Syndicate. 
Sunday. June. 19. 1910. Fragoletta. A 
Vaudeville Sketch 
Friday June 24. Poem: Vanitas. A Song 
for Summer Time. Publishers Press. 
The notebook also contains notes for two books, 
"Canada and the Future" and "Government and 
Industry," the latter a book which Leacock apparently 
was to write for the "LaSalle Extension University of 
Chicago. "7 
In 1988 a group of Leacock papers was acquired in 
London at the Sotheby sale of July 21 and 22 (lot 204). 
This material had been put together by James Keddie, 
to whose magazine Answers Leacock made several 
contributions in the period from 1938 to 1942. The lot 
included twenty-six letters as well as typescripts and 
proofs, and the final cost of £2430 was enormously 
pleasing given the fact that the material had been 
offered to McGill several years earlier (and declined) 
for $28,000.00 (U.S.)! A small group of manuscripts 
and letters was purchased in 1987 from Mr. Gordon 
Glassco, and the most recent acquisition of any size was 
a batch of letters, manuscripts and ephemera donated to 
McGill in 1991 by Mrs. Barbara Whitely, who had 
received help from Leacock in the 1930s when she was 
working on a series of radio broadcasts. 
Among a number of smaller acquisitions which 
cannot be described here in detail, mention might be 
made of the following: two story manuscripts bought by 
Mr. F.A. Warren at the Sothby (Toronto) sale of 
October 29, 1969 (lots 86 and 87) and presented to 
McGill; a letter and a manuscript acquired at the 
Sotheby (Toronto) sale of November 8, 1988 (lot 254); 
two letters and a holograph notebook donated in 1989 
by Mr. Alfred Pick; and individual Leacock letters 
bought from antiquarian booksellers Glenn Horowitz 
(1987 and 1988), Helen R. Kahn (1987), and Robert 
Shulman (1988). 
In addition to the books and manuscripts which 
comprise most of the Leacock collection, the Print 
Collection in the Department of Rare Books and Special 
Collections contains several likenesses of Leacock, 
including paintings, drawings, and photographs. A 
print of one of the Karsh photographs of Leacock (taken 
in 1941) hangs in the Leacock Room (now the 
Department Head's office), as does the only moderately 
successful portrait done by Montreal artist Frederick 
Taylor in 1940. 
Leacock continues to be one of the authors whom the 
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections 
collects in depth, and there remains a surprising amount 
of Leacock material in private hands that continues to 
come on to the market. The collection will never be 
complete, but that is the ideal towards which the 
Department works. 
Notes 
1. Copies 1 and 3 in the McGill collection have later 
inscriptions with notes by Leacock on the circumstances 
in which the book appeared. 
2. This edition uses the John Lane sheets with a cancel 
title-leaf. Musson (a Toronto publisher) seems often to 
have bought unsold stock, remainders, or foreign books 
in sheets, and issued them under its own imprint, 
frequently (and infuriatingly, as in this instance) without 
a date. 
3. Montreal Star, February 16, 1945. 
4. Quoted in the Montreal Gazette, April 6, 1970. 
5. "Works of Dr. Stephen B. Leacock," an incomplete 
holograph list of the Norman Friedman Collection, 
Friedman Papers, McGill University Libraries, 
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, MS 
471. 
6. Leacock evidently had forgotten that Dora Hood had 
provided him with a copy from her catalogue No. 15 
(1935), as she relates in The Side Door: Twenty-Sir 
Years in My Book Room (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 
1958), pp. 77-9. 
7. "Notebook, " McGill University Libraries, 
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, 
Leacock Remains at McGi22 
Leacock Papers, Ms. 668, VI, p. [68]. "Canada and 
the Future" is not the book which Leacock was to 
publish thirty-two years later as Canada: R e  
Foundations of Its Future (Montreal: [s.n.], 1941). 
8. The McGill Leacock Collection is one of three 
important Canadian institutional collections. The 
Stephen Leacock Museum in Orillia, Ontario, has 
extensive holdings of Leacock manuscripts and 
correspondance, as well as his personal library. The 
National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, has 
Leacock papers mainly acquired from Barbara Nimmo, 
Leacock's niece. 


Leacock Remains at McGill: Some Notes on the Stephen Leacock Collection

Caya, Marcel

Notes and Comments 
Leacock Enters McGill 
Marcel Caya 
McGill University Archivist 
Stephen Leacock taught in the Department of Economics and Political Science at McGill University for thirty 
five years, from 1901 to 1936, serving as Chairman of his department for twenty five. We know from his 
comments and certainly can infer from his unwillingness to retire that he considered his role of educator very 
seriously. 
In spite of the length of his service at McGill and the prominent position he held, relatively few administrative 
records remain to tell of the development of his department or assess his role in governing it. The files he 
maintained as Chairman no doubt have been destroyed, as most of them probably dealt with routine matters. It is 
also likely that, in the informal McGill's administration of those days, most communications were effected viva voce 
within the relatively small body of administrators.' The only records left of Leacock in the Archives of the 
University mainly consist of letters and memoranda addressed to senior administrators, particularly deans and 
principals. Of this small official correspondence with the McGill administration, Leacock's letters and memoranda 
following his forced retirement are cited the most often, leaving the impression that they are the only ones extant 
to be of interest. 
Much of what we know about Leacock at McGill has been drawn from anecdotes and reconstructed from 
interviews with contemporaries2 and the few glimpses that he offered in his  writing^.^ The lack of archival records 
explains why none of his biographers has given any extensive account of his life at McGill. It also explains in part 
why the story of such an important biographical element as his appointment to McGill is repeated from one 
biography to another without revisiting the basic documentation that a search of the archival records would have 
provided. 
Although they have never been quoted, Leacock's letters of application to Principal Peterson prove interesting 
in that they reveal how the aspiring professor undertook to persuade the Principal to hire him. This correspondence 
was initiated in January 1900 as a result of a suggestion by Henry Neville Sanders, a McGill professor in Classics 
and Sanskrit. The fact that it is so dated, at the very beginning of the second term after he started at University 
of Chicago indicates that the contacts with McGill's Principal, William Peterson, were established at a very early 
stage, even before Leacock's wedding. It may correct the impression left by some of his biographers that he only 
considered McGill after being rejected by University of Toronto Professor of Economics James M a ~ o r . ~  His letters 
to the Principal are interesting also in that they illustrate how Leacock introduced himself and planned to reconcile 
his graduate studies at University of Chicago with the beginning of his academic career at McGill.' 
Jan 17 1900 
Principal Peterson 
McGill College 
Montreal 
Dear Sir - 
Mr Sanders of your faculty writes me that there is a possibility of a lectureship being shortly 
established at McGill in Political Economy - In such an event I should like to apply for the 
position. I am at present doing Post Graduate work in the department of Political Economy at 
Fontanus VII 1994 149 
Notes and Comments 
Chicago University - I did not take political economy as an undergraduate at Toronto: the course 
was not yet founded. Previous to coming here I did five years of private study and did enough 
work to be easily admitted to the graduate school here - In my undergraduate course at Toronto 
I took classics and modem Languages. I graduated in 1891. My standing in my course was very 
good. I took the first proficiency scholarship on entering the university: did not write in the first 
year exam: was first in first class in Modern Languages (scholarship) and second in first class in 
Classics at the end of my second year: first in first class in modern Languages at the end of my 
third year: in the final exam in modern Languages the ranking was alphabetical in the classes. 
I am asking the Professors here to write to you as to my competency to undertake the work. Of 
course it would not suit me very well to leave Chicago just at present as it would involve dropping 
the work I have in hand, but I presume there is no intention on your part of engaging anyone until 
the autumn - My present degree is B.A., but I believe it would be quite possible for me if I 
came to Montreal to arrange to presently get my degree of Ph.D. from Chicago. I am thirty years 
of age. This is my first year at Chicago. 
Yours sincerely, 
Stephen Leacock 
P.S. In the event of an appointment, I could, if necessary, come to see you personally to make 
-
arrangements as to courses to be given and so forth. 
Jan 18 - 1900 
Principal Peterson 
McGill College 
Montreal 
Dear Sir. 
In my letter to you of yesterday in regard to a position at McGills in Political Economy, 
I should have referred you to Professor Cashar Miller, and Dr Veblen of this University. I have 
done most of my work with them, and thought it better to ask you to write to them for full 
information instead of merely asking them for the usual testimonial. 
Yours faithfully 
Stephen Leacock 
Notes and Comments 
Graduate Hall 
University of Chicago 
May 5 - 1900 
Principal Peterson 
McGill University 
Montreal 
Dear Sir 
I am just in receipt of your letter of the third instant. In answer I may say that I am 
taking Political Science in connection with my work in Economics. My work in Political Science 
both before Xmas and at present, has been entirely with Professor Judson, the head professor of 
the department - I expect to continue my courses with him next year. I should be most happy 
to make application for such a temporary position as you speak of as it would work in very well 
with my course here. I believe it is customary here to allow temporary work in hight teaching 
in one's own department to count as part of a graduate course. With many thanks for your 
courteous letter. 
Yours sincerely 
Stephen Leacock 
[letterhead ofJ The University of Chicago 
June 12. 1900 
Principal Peterson 
McGill University 
Montreal 
Dear Sir : - 
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of June the 9. In reply to it I may say 
that I should, in the event of my coming to Montreal, be most happy to give any help I could to 
students wishing it out of lecture hours. In the matter of remuneration, the arrangement suggested 
would be entirely satisfactory to me. In case of your having anything further to communicate to 
me, my address from June 20, until Sep 28 will be, Orillia, Ontario : after that I hope to return 
to Chicago. 
Very sincerely 
Stephen Leacock 
Notes and Comments 
Notes 
1. When Leacock amved in 1901, McGill College had a student population of close to 1,050; in 1936, when he 
left, it had grown to a little more than 3,000 full-time students. 
2. Allan Anderson, Remembering Leacock (Ottawa: Deneau, 1983) provides interesting accounts and testimonials 
from students and colleagues documenting his teaching and various idiosyncracies. 
3. Except Moritz and, to a lesser extent, Legate, his biographers have not consulted the administrative records 
produced by Leacock when communicating with the McGill administration. 
4. According to R. Curry, Leacock saw his application rejected by Mavor in 1901. Ralph L. Curry, Stephen 
Leacock. Humorist and Humanist (New York: Doubleday, 1959), 69; Moritz (p. 93) and Legate (p. 37-38) also 
consider McGill as Leacock's second choice. 
5. McGill University Archives, Records of Principal Peterson, File No. 9, (1892-1904), LA-LE. (RG 2, . . .) 
McLennan Library: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary 
Peter F .  McNally 
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies 
On Friday, June 6, 1969 at 3:00 p.m. following the Spring Convocation held earlier that day, there was a short 
ceremony when the Principal Dr. H. Rocke Robertson, the Chairman of the University Library Committee Dr. 
Stanley Frost, the Director of University Libraries Mr. Keith Crouch, and the Chancellor Mr. Howard I. Ross, after 
delivering brief speeches, officially opened the McLennan Library.' 
This short and subdued ceremony, held in the Library's main hall, contrasts too vividly with the impressive and 
lengthy opening ceremonies held, seventy-six years earlier in 1893 for Redpath Library, to go unmentioned.' To 
begin with, only university officials participated. There was no participation by representatives of the deceased 
benefactor, Isabella Christine McLennan (1870-1960) after whom the library is named, or the alumni or the larger 
civic community beyond the University's gates. By contrast, in 1893 there had been speeches from the benefactor 
Peter Redpath, the Governor General, the Lieutenant Govemor of Quebec, and other distinguished guests in addition 
to the Principal and a representative of the Chancellor. Another major difference from 1893, is that no 
commemorative book accompanied the opening of McLennan Library in which the speeches were recorded and 
intentions of the architect set forth. The tenor of the late 1960s, however, with its strong social opinions and student 
unrest militated against ceremony, celebration, and commemoration. 
Yet McLennan Library, sitting as prominently as it does at the comer of Sherbrooke and McTavish streets, is 
probably the most visible building on the lower campus. In addition, it has proven to be a remarkably effective 
main library. Despite the enormous growth in collections, enrollment, and research activity at McGill during the 
last quarter century, the building has proven capable of handling them with great ease. 
At some time, a full scale description of McLennan Library, its design and construction, will be needed along 
with a discussion of the people involved. The main elements of the story are as follows. In the late 1950s the 
crowded conditions in Redpath Library had made it obvious that a new library building would soon become 
necessary. Miss McLennan, who died in 1960 and whose family had long been benefactors of McGill, left the bulk 


Leacock Enters McGill

-, -

Chronicle

Cohen, Montague

Notes and Comments 
A Selective Bibliography of B.V. Simon's Publications 
A Survey of Medical Library Facilities in London for Post-Graduate Students and Research Workers Including a 
Suggested Scheme for the Re-organization of the Library of Royal College of Surgeons. Montreal: McGill 
University Library School, 1938. 
"Planning a Company Library. " Business Quarterly, v. 16, no. 1 (Spring 1946): 39-46. 
"Let's Consider Serials Realistically. " Library Journal, v. 7 1, no. 17 (October 1, 1946): 1296-1301. 
"The Training of Medical, Hospital and Nursing Librarians. " Special Libraries, v. 39, no. 3 (March 1948): 71-76. 
"Cataloguing of Periodicals. " Ontario Library Review, v. 33, no. 3 (August 1949): 237-45. 
Library Support of Medical Education and Research in Canada: Report of a Survey of the Medical College 
Libraries of Canada, Together with Suggestions for Improving and Extending Medical Library Service at Local, 
Regional and National Levels. Ottawa: Canadian Association for Medical Colleges, 1964. 
Les besoins de la biblioth2que midicale pour l'enseignement et la recherche. Quaec: Universitk Laval, 1964. 
"The Need for Administrative Know-how in Libraries." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, v. 57, no. 
2 (April 1969): 160-170. 
Notes 
1. The assistance of the following people in writing this appreciation is gratefully acknowledged: Ms. Fay Lando- 
Little, Toronto, Ontario; Mrs. M.A. Flower, Kingston, Ontario; Mrs. Nellie Reiss, Mrs. Elizabeth Silvester, and 
Dr. Stanley Frost, McGill University. 
2. "SLA professional award/1969," Special Libraries, v. 60, no. 6 (July-August, 1969): 406. 
The Rutherford Museum 
By Montague Cohen 
Professor, Deparmtent of Physics 
The Rutherford Museum of McGill University contains a collection of about 35 pieces of original research 
apparatus designed and used by Ernest Rutherford during his tenure as Macdonald Professor of Experimental 
Physics from 1898 to 1907. In addition, there are documents, letters, photographs and other memorabilia. Until 
recently the museum was housed in a room in the old Macdonald Physics Building where Rutherford actually 
worked, although this building was converted into a library (Physical Sciences and Engineering) in 1977. In 1993 
it was decided to move the museum to the new Physics Building, appropriately named the Rutherford Physics 
Building, on the upper campus. The museum was officially re-opened on October 1, 1993 by the University 
Chancellor, Gretta Chambers, and a public lecture on "Rutherford at McGill: Life and Science" was given by the 
Museum Curator, Professor Montague Cohen. 
Notes and Comments 
Although the move entailed a break with the original Physics Building, the new location provides about 50 
percent more space for the museum and this has been utilized to display photographs, documents and other items 
to advantage, Unfortunately, there are no additional pieces of orignal apparatus! The new museum is next to the 
McPherson Museum of Scientific hstmments (mainly late 19th century) and visitors can see both collections if they 
wish. Althoughneither museum has regular hours of opening, visits can be arranged by appointment at short notice. 
Visitors to Montreal should at least be aware that the city includes this unique treasure! 


The Rutherford Museum

Contributors 
Ian Binnie, Q.C. is a lawyer who practices with McCarthy Tetrault in Toronto. After graduation from McGill in 
1960 he attended Cambridge University (where he was the first Canadian to be elected President of the Cambridge 
Uruon) and the Uruversity of Toronto Law School. He has represented Canada before the International Court of 
Justice at the Hague and makes numerous appearance before the upreme ourt of Canada and other courts and 
tribunals. His grandmother was a regular summer vi itor to Orillia during the Leacock era. 
lichael S. Bisson was born in Barre, Vermont, and obtained his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of 
Cali forma, Santa Barbara in 1976. His archaeological fieldwork has concentrated on the later prehistory of South-
Central Africa, beginning with a study of prehistoric copper mining in Zambia, and followed by a survey of Late 
Stone Age and Early iron Age settlement patterns on the Zambia-Zaire watershed. Recently his resea.rch interests 
have expanded to include the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. He has made exten ive u e of the 
archaeological collections of the Redpath Museum in teaching a laboratory course on the European Palaeolithic. 
Stanley Brice Frost joined McGill University i 1956 as Professor of Old Testament Languages and Literature and 
during the next two decades became intimately concerned with the administration and direction of the niversity. 
He was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Divinity in 1957, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research 
in 1963 , and Vice Principal (Administration in 1970). For ten years , he was chairman of the niversity Libraries 
Committee. amed Director of the History of McGill Project in 1974, he has been the moving spirit in the 
organization of the popular James McGill Society, serving first as its executive ecretary and now as Honorary 
President. His publications include Old Te tament Apocalyptic 1952, Standi11g and Understanding 1969 and the 
two volumes of the McGill history, 1980 and 1984. A biography of yril James was publi hed in 1991 and He 
Chose A City: James McGill of Montreal is scheduled for 1995 . 
Louise Gareau-Des Bois, a poet, translator, librettist and playwright, was born in Montreal. She bas been very 
active for some twenty years in the work of the Committee of writer of P.E. . International. Apart from Deux 
Solitudes, her French translation of Hugh MacLennan 's Two Solitudes, she has publi hed two collections of poetry 
Paroles d'Eau et de Sang (Editions St-Germain des Pres, Paris , 1976), and Britches (Edition Garneau Quebec, 
also 1976). She bas also contributed to various special publications of the ational Film Board of Canada (The 
Female Eye, 1975, and Canada with Love, 1982). She wrote several plays which were produced by Radio-Canada 
and in 1983, published an artist s book with tbe painter Ghitta Caiserman-Roth. rom 1990 to 1992 she wrote the 
libretto of a work entitled Opera for a City, which will have its premiere in Montreal and Paris in ovember 1995. 
The composer for this is Joanna Bruzdowicz, who lives in Brussel and already enjoys a world-wide reputation. 
Barbara Lawson i Curator of thnology at tbe Redpath Mu eum. he has a B.A. in anthropology from 
orthwestern University and an M.A. from McGill. Prior to joining the Redpath Museum in 1984, she was a 
member of the curatorial taff at the Vancouver Museum. Her book Collected Curio : Mis ionary Tale from the 
South Sea , published in the Fontaous Monograph Series, provides the fir t comprehensive account of the history 
of orne of the Redpath Museum ethnological holding and a detailed analy is of a collection of object gathered 
during the nineteenth century by members of Nova Scotia's Pr byterian •south Seas Mission." 
Yehudi Lindeman is a professor at McGill niversity where he teaches English. He bas published articles on 
Renaissance theory and translation as well as a book-length edition, with translation, of plays by the eo-Latin 
Renaissance author Macropedius (1983). Since 1989, Lindeman has been director of Living Testimorues, the 
Holocaust Video Documentation Archive at McGill niversity. 
Robert H. Michel is an archivist in the McGill Uruversity Archives and a faculty lecturer in the Graduate cbool 
of Library and Information Studies for the team-taught archives course. He holds a doctorate in history from 
McGill University . He is a member of the Acquisition Committee of the Canadian Council of Archives, established 
to help preserve Canada's documentary heritage. He serve on the executive of the James McGill Society, which 
presents lectures on McGill's history . 
195 
Contributors 
Barbara M. Syrek, nee A Szczecin, au nord de Ia Pologne, est museologue et cbercbeure de formation. Depuis 
1978, elle detient une m.altrise en conservation et en gestion des musees de l'Universite icolas Copernic de Torun, 
Pologne. En 1993, elle obtient, A l'Universite de Montreat, un dipl6me de m.altrise en museologie. Avant on 
etablissemeot a Montreal, en 1987, elle a travaiUe, entre autres, comme cooservateure au Cabinet numismatique 
du Musee ational a Szczecin en Pologne et com.me restaurateure-adjointe au Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences 
a Sydney en Australie. En 1992, elle a effectue son stage a Ia Direction de Ia conservation du Musee McCord 
d'hi toire canadienne. Presentement, elle est consultaote eo museologie a Ia Societe d'hjstoire de Longueuil. Les 
15 dernieres annees ont ete vouees a la recherche touchant !'art medieval europeeo Ia num.ismatique mondiale, 
l' histoire des musees et !'art queoocois. 
Bruce G. Trigger has taught in McGill's Department of Anthropology since 1964. Born in Ontario, he bold a 
B.A. from the Uruversity of Toronto and a Ph.D. from Yale University. His contributions to the study of aboriginal 
history include The Children of Aataentsic, 1976, and Natives and Newcomers, 1985, both published by MeGill-
Queen's University Press. More recently be has published A History of Arcltaeological1710ught, 1989 and Early 
Civilization :Ancient Egypt in Context, 1993. He is currently working on a comparative study of early civilizations 
around the world. 
Bruce Whiteman, Head of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections holds an M.A. in English 
.Literature (1977) from the Uruversity of Toronto. He has published widely on Canadian literature and bibliography, 
and is also a poet and book reviewer. He is the former editor of the Papers of the Bibliographic Society of Canada. 
Recent books include The Letters of John Sutherland, 1942-1956 (1992) and Lasting lmpre sions: A Short Hi tory 
of English Publishing in Quebec (1994). A biographical and critical study of Group of Seven painter J.E.H. 
MacDonald is due for publication in 1995. 
196 


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