Fontanus - (E-Journal - McGill University)

Brendel, Maria L.

English

Not a bad impression: a fine 'Rembrandt' print in McGill's collection

Hobbins, A.J.

Notes and Comments 
Finally, commencing in 1987, the Quebec National Assembly passed a series of implementation laws to 
bring into effect a new civil code, t o  be called the Civil Code of Que'bec (C.C.Q.). A 1997 Act of the National 
Assembly set the final stage for the implementation of the new Code. 
Most of the provisions of the new Code had come into force by January 1, 1994. The 3,168 articles of the 
C.C.Q. bear some resemblance to the original Civil Code of Lower Canada but incorporate a significantly 
different interpretation of private law. 
Further information about McGill University and its involvement with the development of the Civil Code of 
Que'bec may be obtained by contacting the Law Library at (514) 398-4715, extension 1556. 
Information about the Archives of the Civil Code Revision Ofice may be obtained via the World Wide Web 
at URL: http://www.library.mcgill.ca/ccro/ 
A Frank Scott letter from 1937 
B y  A.J. Hobbins 
Associate Director, Administration, Libraries 
John Peters Humphrey (1905-1995), author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
and F.R. Scott (1899-1985), famed constitutional lawyer and poet, became friends when they met as under- 
graduates at  McGill University in 1926, and they later spent many years together as colleagues in the McGill 
Faculty of Law. Humphrey, two years behind Scott in law school and six years younger, was very much 
influenced by Scott's ideas. Humphrey returned to Montreal in 1930 after studying in France for a year. 
He observed the misery of the Great Depression first hand and immediately recognized the need for a social 
safety net. He became a socialist and a member of the League for Social Reconstruction, an organization 
co-founded by Scott. Humphrey practiced law in Montreal for a few years before McGill's Dean of Law, 
Percy Corbett (1892-1983), invited him to join the Faculty to teach Corbett's course in Roman law and 
eventually that in international law. At this time the only other full-time members of the faculty were Scott 
and (Charles) Stuart Le Mesurier (b. 1888). Humphrey accepted the position, which was held for a year 
whilst he studied Roman law in Paris on a fellowship from the Carnegie Endowment for World Peace. 
The year 1936137 was a dramatic one on the European stage. In Hitler's Germany the Olympic Games 
became a propaganda event, while thousands of German citizens - principally alleged communists, Jews and 
homosexuals - were being placed in concentration camps. Mussolini's Italy was gearing up for the conquest 
of its African empire. In Spain the civil war, a clash in extreme ideologies, was beginning in earnest. In 
the Soviet Union Stalin had already begun his great purges, while from abroad the exiled Trotsky vilified 
him. Humphrey visited Germany and Italy, and observed developments elsewhere with interest. He reported 
many of his observations in letters t o  his sister Ruth, and to  his colleagues a t  McGill. One of Frank Scott's 
replies1 is given below, followed by some contextual explanation for each paragraph. 
Notes and Comments 
Faculty of Law 
McGill University 
Montreal 
February 14th 1937 
Dear John, 
I have to thank you and Jeanne for your letter about your Italian experiences, and also for the very interesting 
book by Gide which Marian and I have enjoyed discussing - if enjoyment is the word to use about a rather 
discouraging situation. I felt very much as Gide did when I was in Russia, only then the element of repression 
seemed to be getting better all the time instead of worse. Now every socialist will have to  explain away 
more failures within his own ranks. At least we can learn from this Stalin-Trotsky fight that the principle of 
dictatorship can corrupt even the best-intentioned people. 
I have seen letters of yours t o  Corbett and LeMesurier [sic], and am glad to know you are having an interesting 
time. I think you are right to take the extra year necessary for your degree, if you can manage it. It is a 
small time in relation to  your future academic career, for which the degree and the work in Paris will be 
invaluable. 
Nothing of special note is happening here. The job of surveying and reorganizing the work of the university 
is going steadily under Morgan, who in this respect is first rate. LeMesurier [sic] will make a good Dean if 
he keeps well; he has lots of ideas. We are pursuing the idea of a school of government. 
In the country at  large, the development is slow. the CCF members are putting up a good fight in Ottawa. 
They are as usual the only opposition. The new defence estimates give them an opportunity, but dear old 
J.S.W. is no rabble-rouser. 
The recent Privy Council decisions are disastrous. They have split the country into provincial sovereignties 
even in the international field. The Quebec secessionists have had half their demands handed to them. This, 
and Spain, and Stalin, make blind faith necessary. 
My best to Jeanne, 
Frank Scott. 
Explanat ion 
Paragraph 1. 
Humphrey's wife was Jeanne Godreau (1903-1980), while Scott was married to  artist Marian Dale (1906- 
1993). Scott had visited the Soviet Union in 1935 and, while disturbed by the repressive nature of dictator- 
ship, believed somewhat wishfully that the situation was improving2 Humphrey sent him a copy of Andre 
Gide's 1936 book, Retour de 17U.R.S.S. Gide had supported communism financially and ideologically since 
the beginning of the Great Depression, and was invited as an honoured guest t o  Maxim Gorki's funeral. 
Returning, he wrote a bitter critique of Stalin's policies and practices in which he renounced communism. 
Up to that point in time western socialists had held up the Soviet Union as a model of progress, although 
Notes and Comments 
this position became more and more difficult to  sustain as awareness of Stalin's excesses grew. Trotsky, who 
had been relatively silent since his exile in 1928, suddenly became more active at this juncture, establishing 
the Fourth International as a rival to the Moscow-based Komintern and becoming more vociferous in his 
criticisms of Stalin. 
Paragraph 2. 
Humphrey discovered in France that if he stayed at  the university for a few months more and wrote a 
short dissertation, he could be awarded a doctorate. He wrote to Corbett and Le Mesurier, who became Dean 
in 1936, inquiring as to whether they would extend his leave to allow him to pursue the doctorate. Scott 
was evidently enthusiastic about the notion of graduate degrees for teaching academics, but his colleagues 
were less sanguine. On January 8, 1937 Le Mesurier wrote to Humphrey that, while he could extend the 
leave, there would be no financial assistance from McGill (Humphrey had suggested he be allowed to make 
up the missed work later). In terms of the value of the doctorate he added the following observation: 
I realise of course the value of the degree to you in the event of your applying for a position 
in another university. We ourselves attach very little importance to  it. This may be sour 
grapes but there it is. 
When this drew a sharp response from Humphrey, he clarified matters on April 2 by saying: 
When I said in one of my previous letters that we did not attach much importance to a 
doctor's degree I was simply referring to the tag and not the work which you are now doing. 
Paragraph 3. 
It may a t  first seem surprising that Scott, the radical young professor, would approve of the work done by 
Principal A.E. Morgan (1886-1972), the representative of the administration, but there were good reasons for 
the approval. McGill was in financial trouble during the Depression and survived in part through the sale of 
assets and the generosity of the Board of Governors, who voluntarily taxed themselves. Given this generosity 
Board members felt that members of faculty should present the capitalist view of society as vigorously as 
the socialist side seemed to be presented. In particular they wanted Morgan, who had been hired in June 
1935, to do something about the outspoken Frank Scott. However, when the Chancellor Sir Edward Beatty 
(1877-1943) alerted Morgan to the socialist content of one of Scott's publications, the Principal responded: 
I am glad you write to me, although I have no solution to offer for a problem which I hope 
will always be with us. I hope, because as I see it the only condition of its solution is the 
establishment of a totalitarian state, which God forbid! 
In 1936, after McGill had undergone several years of retrenchment, Morgan had established a joint 
Staff/Board of Governors committee called the Consultative Committee on University Development. The 
committee's mandate was to examine the entire university in terms of current needs and estimate the cost 
of meeting these needs. Morgan was frequently at  loggerheads with the Board of Governors on a variety 
of issues. He tendered his resignation as Principal on April 17, 1937 after less than two years in o f f i ~ e . ~  
Le Mesurier served as Dean until 1946, although nothing appears to have come of his ideas for a school of 
government. 
Paragraph 4. 
The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was the original name for the New Democratic Party. 
James Shaver Woodsworth (1874-1942) became its first leader in 1932. The party elected several Members 
of Parliament in the 1935 federal general election, although the official opposition was the Conservative 
Party. Woodsworth was a respected Methodist minister and pacifist but not, apparently, a great orator. 
Notes and Comments 
The 1937 budget predicted a deficit of $35,000,000 while recommending that more than that amount be 
spent on armaments. This caused the socialist rallying cry of "Disarmament with a surplus". 
Paragraph 5 .  
In 1935 Conservative Prime Minister Richard Bennett's government enacted "New Deal" legislation aimed 
at easing the effects of the Depression. This legislation included the Employment and Social Insurance Act, 
the Natural Products Marketing Act and the Minimum Wage Act. The nine provinces protested that these 
Acts were an infringement on provincial jurisdiction as defined by the British North America A d .  In January 
1937 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London found in the provinces' favour, ruling almost 
all the legislation ultra wires. 
Notes 
1. The letter is currently in the possession of A.J. Hobbins, Humphrey's literary executor, but will eventually 
be donated to the McGill University Archives. 
2. See F.R. Scott LLImpressions of a visit to  the USSR" Canadian F o m m  vol. 15 (December, 1935) pp. 382- 
385. In this Scott stated "...the present dictatorship..involves tactics that positively hinder the attainment 
of socialism. Despite these qualifications I came away believing that the objectives of the revolution will 
eventually be achieved." 
3. For a fuller description of the question of Scott, Morgan and the Board of Governors, see Stanley 
B. Frost, McGill University for the Advancement of Learning, Vol. 2 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University 
Press, 1984) pp. 193-197. 
McGill Law Library Moves into Cyberspace(s) 
By Kate Williams 
Director, University Relations Ofice 
"To leave no stone unturned" is the felecitous phrase from Euripedes engraved on the stone exterior of the new 
McGill law library, which was inaugurated on September 17, 1998 in the presence of Quebec's Lieutenant- 
Governor Lise Thibault and hundreds of guests. "Given the years of effort to  raise funds for the building, 
it is an apt reminder of what the University must do to sustain its margin of excellence and international 
reputation," says McGill Principal Bernard Shapiro. Hampered for decades by totally inadequate space 
while the student body increased by 50% and legal scholarship exploded, the old law library was considered 
one of the worst in Canada. Now, thanks to more than 300 donors, the new library welcomes users into 
a startingly different environment, one designed to bridge the past and the future in radical, sometimes 
light-hearted, sometimes sobering ways. The architect is Dan Hanganu, considered one of Quebec's hottest 
architects. 
Named for major benefactor and graduate Nahum Gelber (B.A. '54, BCL '57), the $11.5 million structure 
was made possible by large and small contributions from individual graduates, law firms, foundations and 
friends of the Faculty. "We're thrilled that so many people supported us," says Dean Stephen Toope. 


A Frank Scott letter from 1937

Cohen, Montague

Editorial 
This issue of FONTANUS, the tenth, must begin with an explanation and 
a tribute. The explanation relates to the date of the issue: 1998. Strictly 
speaking this volume, number 10, should have been published in 1997, but 
circumstances were against us. Dr. Hans Moller, the Founder and Editor of 
FONTANUS from its inception in 1988, resigned - or, rather, retired - from 
this duty and there was an inevitable delay while a new Editor was chosen 
and persuaded to accept the post. The present issue includes an article by 
Dr. Moller in which he discusses the origins of FONTANUS. 
A tribute to Dr. Moller is appropriate at this point. Hans Moller was 
born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was educated at Copenhagen University 
where he obtained his Ph.D. in Danish Language and Literature in 1945. His 
early career included the posts of Assistant Keeper in the National Museum 
and Research Librarian at the Royal Library, both in Copenhagen. In 1955 
Hans emigrated to Canada, where he was appointed an Executive Producer 
of the National Film Board and (in 1974) Chief Librarian of the University 
of Ottawa. 
Hans Moller came to McGill in 1977, when he was appointed an Area 
Librarian and, in 1984, Director of Libraries. Dr. Moller retired from this 
post in 1986 but was designated Research and Development Librarian, the 
appointment he holds today. His many publications include books, articles, 
films and audio-visual materials. Long may you remain with us, Hans! 
That brings me to the last part of this excuse for the late publication of 
FONTANUS, Volume 10. The search for a replacement for Dr. Moller, to 
assume the post of Editor, eventually focussed on me! It was a strange deci- 
sion, but not wholly unwelcome. I am not a Librarian, nor even a member of 
the Faculty of Arts. As a scientist, I am flattered by the decision, but some- 
what apprehensive. The last time I edited a journal was in 1941-43, when 
I was editor of my school magazine in London, England! You, dear Reader, 
must judge the wisdom of this appointment. Please show your support by 
submitting articles for Volume 11 which - I promise! - will be published 
promptly in 1999. 
Montague Cohen 


Editorial

Williams, Kate

Notes and Comments 
The 1937 budget predicted a deficit of $35,000,000 while recommending that more than that amount be 
spent on armaments. This caused the socialist rallying cry of "Disarmament with a surplus". 
Paragraph 5 .  
In 1935 Conservative Prime Minister Richard Bennett's government enacted "New Deal" legislation aimed 
at easing the effects of the Depression. This legislation included the Employment and Social Insurance Act, 
the Natural Products Marketing Act and the Minimum Wage Act. The nine provinces protested that these 
Acts were an infringement on provincial jurisdiction as defined by the British North America A d .  In January 
1937 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London found in the provinces' favour, ruling almost 
all the legislation ultra wires. 
Notes 
1. The letter is currently in the possession of A.J. Hobbins, Humphrey's literary executor, but will eventually 
be donated to the McGill University Archives. 
2. See F.R. Scott LLImpressions of a visit to  the USSR" Canadian F o m m  vol. 15 (December, 1935) pp. 382- 
385. In this Scott stated "...the present dictatorship..involves tactics that positively hinder the attainment 
of socialism. Despite these qualifications I came away believing that the objectives of the revolution will 
eventually be achieved." 
3. For a fuller description of the question of Scott, Morgan and the Board of Governors, see Stanley 
B. Frost, McGill University for the Advancement of Learning, Vol. 2 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University 
Press, 1984) pp. 193-197. 
McGill Law Library Moves into Cyberspace(s) 
By Kate Williams 
Director, University Relations Ofice 
"To leave no stone unturned" is the felecitous phrase from Euripedes engraved on the stone exterior of the new 
McGill law library, which was inaugurated on September 17, 1998 in the presence of Quebec's Lieutenant- 
Governor Lise Thibault and hundreds of guests. "Given the years of effort to  raise funds for the building, 
it is an apt reminder of what the University must do to sustain its margin of excellence and international 
reputation," says McGill Principal Bernard Shapiro. Hampered for decades by totally inadequate space 
while the student body increased by 50% and legal scholarship exploded, the old law library was considered 
one of the worst in Canada. Now, thanks to more than 300 donors, the new library welcomes users into 
a startingly different environment, one designed to bridge the past and the future in radical, sometimes 
light-hearted, sometimes sobering ways. The architect is Dan Hanganu, considered one of Quebec's hottest 
architects. 
Named for major benefactor and graduate Nahum Gelber (B.A. '54, BCL '57), the $11.5 million structure 
was made possible by large and small contributions from individual graduates, law firms, foundations and 
friends of the Faculty. "We're thrilled that so many people supported us," says Dean Stephen Toope. 
Notes and Comments 
With a multipurpose atrium linking it to  Old Chancellor Day Hall on Peel Street, the Nahum Gelber 
Law Library is described in a commemorative brochure as a "suitable consort [for surrounding mansions], 
with its dark seriousness, dignity and occasional touches of whimsy." Hanganu himself has said it is "a box 
- a simple box" conceived to reveal inward beauty and gravity of purpose "for people who come to read and 
learn - and grow." 
According to Toope, the Library is, however, much more than a box - it is a catalyst for the Faculty which, 
poised to mark its 150th anniversary throughout the 1998-99 academic year, is plunging into cyberspace with 
remarkable enthusiasm. Every one of its 350 work stations, for example, is wired for laptops and connected 
to the Internet, with user-friendly technology support "instantly visible as you walk in," he notes. Toope and 
Law Librarian Robert Clarke point out that students have been deeply involved in the project, influencing 
the Library's design to an exceptional degree and helping to ensure that it is the first completely barrier-free 
library in the entire University. 
Implementing the Faculty's new curriculum will continue the momentum forward during 1998-99 and 
beyond. "Our recent revisions are dramatic, but they're based on wide consultation and, in my view, show 
tremendous courage and creativity. Students will have more choice, and the two great legal systems of the 
Western world, common law and civil law, will truly illuminate one another, almost in a dialogue, right from 
the first year of study," says the Dean. 
Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre 
B y  Carol Marley 
Information Services Librarian 
November 14, 1997 saw the official opening of the new Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre 
(GIC). Occupying the entire fifth floor of Burnside Hall, the GIC combines the former Walter Hitschfeld 
Environmental Earth Sciences Library with the new GIC Computer Lab devoted primarily to geographic 
information systems (GIs) activities. The library, without walls, serves as a repository of digital geographic 
data (in addition to traditional maps and atlases, as well as collections in the disciplines of cartography and 
GIs). The lab provides the means of analyzing and mapping these data with GIs software and state-of-the 
art computer facilities. The new GIC cost over $280,000, with generous contributions from the Dean of 
Science, Alan Shaver, and the Director of Libraries, Frances Groen. 
This exciting new partnership between the Faculty of Science and the McGill University Libraries has 
enabled the University to bring together a team of GIs "experts" whose mission is t o  further the cause of GIs 
literacy at McGill. There are approximately 60 computers, many of these being Pentium 200 MMXs with 
17 inch monitors attached to  a new file server and Lexmark colour laser printer. Digitizing and scanning 
equipment is also available. There is an interactive classroom for teaching GIs, data retrieval and Web 
navigation. The instructor's computer is permanently connected to  a SONY computer projection system. 
GIs software includes ESRI's Arcview 3.1, and accompanying Network Analyst and Spatial Analyst modules, 
Map Info 4.1 and Idrisi 4 for Windows. 
The GIC is open seven days a week in term time. Graduate students in the Department of Mathematics, 
Geography and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, as well as selected undergraduates, have the additional 
advantage of 24 hour access using a swipe card and PIN system. 
The library's Web page gives details on collections and services, 


McGill Law Library Moves into Cyberspace(s)

-, -

Gacek, Adam

Yaycioğlu, Ali

Ottoman-Turkish Manuscripts in the Islamic and other Libraries of McGill University

McNally, Peter F.

Boyle, Christina M.

Judge Robert MacKay's 1882 Catalogue of Books 
Judge Robert MacKay's 1882 
Catalogue of Books: 
A Preliminary Analysis 
Peter F. McNally and Christina M. Boyle 
Robert Mackay (1816-1888) was a Judge of the Superior Court from 1868 to 1882, served on  the McGill Board 
of Governors from 1879 to 1887, and bequeathed his library to the University. The collection comprised two 
parts: "Legal" and "Miscellaneous." This article discusses the non-legal miscellaneous section, composed 
of 456 titles in 1,136 volumes, and analyses the collection under subject (10 categories), periodicals (13)' 
county  of publication (9)' language (8) and period of publication (4). The subject classification is analysed 
and discussed in  further detail. 
Robert Mackay (1816-1888) a dtd juge a la Cour supdrieure de 1868 d 1882, et  a faat partie du Conseil des 
gouverneurs de McGill de 1879 a 1887. Il a l igu i  sa bibliothi.que a llUniversitd. La collection se divise en 
deux parties: '~uridique" et  "divers." Cet article s'intiresse ci la partie non juridique de la collection qui se 
compose de 456 titres en 1,136 volumes et l'analyse en fonction des sujets (10 catigories), des piriodiques 
(13)' du lieu de publication (9 pays), de la langue (8) et de la date de la publication (4). La classification 
par sujet est analyske en dktail. 
H i s t o r i a n s  of McGill University not only out- 
line the administrative course of the University, they 
also trace its intellectual development: the ideas that 
shaped the University and the shape that the Uni- 
versity gave to  ideas. One of the ways of evaluating 
this intellectual ebb and flow is the library and its 
collections. These collections constitute a barome- 
ter of both the University's impact upon society and 
society's impact upon the University. 
As a recent study indicated, the McGill Library 
catalogue of 1876, listing 5,201 titles and 11,021 vol- 
umes, provides a unique and convincing insight into 
the collection at  that time, and thereby the intellec- 
tual state of the University.' By 1882, the collection 
had grown to 22,000 volumes, due largely to the gifts 
of individuals such as Peter Redpath, J.H.R. Mol- 
son, and T. Sterry Hunt. Unfortunate as it is that 
no other book catalogues of the entire collection were 
issued after 1876, it is fortunate that catalogues were 
published thereafter of specific sections of the McGill 
collection. One such catalogue represents the gifts 
of Judge Robert M a ~ k a ~ , ~  most of whose books can 
still be found on the shelves of the McGill University 
Libraries. 
Robert Mackay was born in Montreal on October 
27, 1816 and died there on February 23, 1888. After 
being admitted t o  the Bar on December 30,1838, he 
developed a highly successful law practise in partner- 
ship with W.H. Austin, and received acknowledge- 
ment of his professional accomplishments by becom- 
ing Batonnier of the Montreal Bar. In 1867, he be- 
came Queen's Counsel and in 1868 Judge of the Su- 
perior Court. Due to ill helath, he retired from the 
judiciary on November 1, 1882. He was twice mar- 
ried, first to  Ann Kearney of New York, who died in 
April 1843, and second on June 27,1848 to Christina 
- daughter of the Honorable Thomas Mackay of Ot- 
CATALOGUE 
B O O K S  
C O L L E G E  
MR. JUSTICE MACKAY, 
-- 
PABT XL 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
ma%-url : 
PBISTED BY JOE! LO- & SOX, ST. hlCBOLAS STSTREET. 
1881. 
Judge Robert MacKay's 1882 Catalogue of Books 
tawa, the builder of Rideau Hall - by whom he had 
a daughter. In addition t o  his legal/judicial career Table 1: SUBJECT NO. OF % NO. OF % he had a great interest in art,  becoming President of TITLES VOLS. 
the Montreal Art Association in 1882. He was also A. DICTIONARIES 18 3.9 50 4.4 
a philanthropist, giving some of his art collection to  B. 45 9.9 165 14.5 
the Fraser Library and donating money to the Dioce- c .  BIOGRAPHY 29 6.4 68 6.0 
san Theological College. ~ o s t  importantly for our 
story, he served on the McGill Board of Governors 
from 1879 until his resignation in December 1887, 
shortly before his death, and gave the University his 
library.3 
Described in a catalogue published in 188211883, 
Mackay's collection can be evaluated for both its 
quantity and quality, and for its interaction with 
the intellectual development of the University. Com- 
posed of approximately 2,000 titles, his collection 
would have constituted approximately 10% of the 
University Library book stock of the early 1880s.~ 
The collection is divided into two parts: Part I "Le- 
gal" and Part I1 "Miscellaneous," or non-legal pub- 
lications. Interestingly enough, the imprint date of 
the title page for Part I1 is 1882, whereas that for 
Part I is 1883. It is unclear whether the two parts 
were issued separately or as one title. Since the 
analysis of Part I is still in progress, this paper will 
deal only with Part 11, the non-legal "Miscellaneous" 
publications. 
Part I1 is composed of 456 titles in 1,136 volumes. 
The total number of volumes may actually be larger, 
but bibliographical ambiguities make it difficult to  
identify certain titles: the entries are exceedingly 
brief, typically one line in length, with abbreviated 
author and title and rarely a date of publication, but 
usually an indication of number of volumes. Hand- 
written lists in the McGill Archives suggest that 
the books were received before being ca t a log~ed .~  
Although there is no indication of who catalogued 
them, one can speculate that it was M. William Tay- 
lor, the Assistant Librarian. As the catalogue's title- 
page makes clear, the arrangement was by subject, 
there being ten categories as follows: 
Several points require clarification. Section E, "Par- 
liamentary and Political," includes 90 volumes of 
British Parliamentary debates and histories, now lo- 
cated in the McLennan Library's Government Docu- 
ment Department. Section F, "The Works Of," han- 
dles the collected works of such authors as Voltaire 
(71 vol.), Burke (2 vol.) and Rabelais (1 vol.). Sec- 
tion H, "Classical Library," is a series of classical 
D. POETRY 20 4.4 63 5.5 
E. PARLIAMENTARY 14 3.3 145 12.8 
& POLITICAL 
F. THE WORKS OF 11 2.4 95 8.4 
G. RELIGIOUS 41 9.0 54 4.8 
& CONTROVERSIAL 
H. CLASSICAL LIBRARY 19 4.2 50? 4.6 
I. HARPER'S FAMILY 126 27.6 187 16.5 
LIBRARY 
J. OTHER BOOKS 132 28.9 257+ 22.6 
TOTAL 456+ 100 1136+ 100.1 
Table 2: 
The Anti-Jacobin Review, 1798-1810, 36 vol. 
The Illustrated London News, 1858-1871, 14 vol. 
The Eclectic Magazine (Boston), 6 vol. 
The Leisure Hour, 1854-1860, 1862-, 16 vol. 
Good Words, 1860-, 12 vol. 
The Penny Magazine, 1832-1845, 13 vol. 
The Saturday Magazine (London), 1832-1844, 13 vol. 
Bell's Weekly Messenger, 1814-1815, 2 vol. 
Colonial Magazine, 3 vol. 
Revue canadienne, 2 vol. 
The Argosy, 2 vol. 
The Art Union, 2 vol. 
The Art Journal, 3 vol. 
authors in English translation. Section I, "Harper's 
Family Library," is a miscellaneous series composed 
largely of non-fiction. Section J, "Other Books," is a 
richly textured group of books and periodicals, cov- 
ering virtually every subject discipline. The collec- 
tion contains thirteen periodical titles in approxi- 
mately 124 volumes: 
Whereas British publications predominated in the 
1876 McGill Library catalogue, American publica- 
tions predominated in Mackay's: 
Of the American publications 155, or 85.6% of their 
total, were published in New York City. Of the 
British, 139 or 86.8% were published in London, and 
only 13 or 8.1% were published in Scotland. Of the 
Canadian publications, 12 or 70.6% were published 
in Montreal. Analysis of the "Legal" Part of the 
catalogue will undoubtedly show a much higher pro- 
Judge Robert MacKay's 1882 Catalogue of Books 
Table 3: 
COUNTRY NUMBER OF % 
TITLES 
United States 181 39.7 
United Kingdom 160 35.1 
Canada 17 3.7 
France 13 2.9 
Belgium 3 0.7 
Holland 3 0.7 
Switzerland 2 0.4 
Italy 2 0.4 
Unknown 75 16.4 
TOTAL 456 100 
Table 4: 
LANGUAGE NO. OF  % 
TITLES 
ENGLISH 409 89.7 
FRENCH 30 6.6 
LATIN 7 1.5 
ITALIAN 3 0.7 
FRENCH & ENGLISH 3 0.7 
GREEK & ENGLISH 1 0.2 
POLYGLOT: LATIN, ITALIAN 1 0.2 
DUTCH & FRENCH 
UNKNOWN 1 0.2 
TOTAL 456 100 
portion of Canadian imprints, which otherwise were 
significantly fewer than in the 1876 catalogue. 
English was overwhelmingly predominant as the 
language of publication. Although the Latin lan- 
guage fell only from second place in the 1876 cata- 
logue to third in Mackay, its proportion of the total 
was dramatically less. As for the titles in French, 
the number given here may be lower than is really 
the case, due to the tendency to translate titles into 
English. Some of these translations may have been 
missed in the analysis. 
Although the date of publication of 80 titles, or 
17.5% of the total, was indeterminable, the focus 
of those with dates was overwhelmingly upon the 
nineteenth-century: 
The 1840s, with 188 titles or 50% of the indentifiable 
total, provided the largest number of publications, 
and this suggests that Mackay did the bulk of his 
purchasing in this period. Virtually all of 126 titles 
in the "Harper's Family Library" series were pub- 
Table 5: 
DATE NO. OF  TITLES % 
1551-1599 3 0.8 
TOTAL 376 100 
Table 6: 
SUBJECT % No. OF 
TITLES 
OTHER BOOKS 28.9 132 
HARPER'S FAMILY 27.6 126 
LIBRARY 
HISTORY 9.9 45 
RELIGIOUS 9.0 41 
& CONTROVERSIAL 
BIOGRAPHY 6.4 29 
POETRY 4.4 20 
CLASSICAL LIBRARY 4.2 19 
DICTIONARIES 3.9 18 
PARLIAMENTARY 3.3 15 
& POLITICAL 
THE WORKS OF 2.4 11 
lished in that decade. By comparison, all 19 titles in 
the "Classical Library" were published in the 1830s. 
Subject analysis was undertaken first by reorga- 
nizing Table One in descending order by percentage 
of titles. As Table Six shows, "Harper's Family Li- 
brary" and "Other Books" accounted for 56.5% of 
the titles. Further subject analysis was clearly r e  
quired to  deal with this subject indeterminancy. 
The Mackay entries were then checked in the McGill 
Library catalogues, where a high proportion were 
found with either Library of Congress or Cutter 
Classification numbers. The Cutter system was used 
at McGill until 1967 and is still in use for some older 
materials, whereas others have been reclassified into 
L.C. As much as possible, the classification numbers 
are presented as given in the catalogues, the excep- 
tions being L.C.'s AC and Cutter's Y9, which are 
so general that it was deemed acceptable to reas- 
sign their titles t o  more appropriate categories. As 
two classification systems were being analyzed, they 
were blended as follows: 
Judge Robert MacKay's 1882 Catalogue of Books 
Table 7: 
SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION NO. OF % 
TITLES 
1. DICTIONARIES, & 19 42 
ENCYCLOPEDIAS 
2. GENRAL WORKS 12 2.6 
INCLUDING PERIODICALS 
3. PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, 19 4.2 
& OCCULT 
4. RELIGION 56 12.3 
5. HISTORY, ALLIED 6 1.3 
6. BIOGRAPHY 41 9.0 
7. HISTORY 114 25.0 
8. GEOGRAPHY, TRAVEL 15 3.3 
ANTHROPOLOGY, 
& RECREATION 
9. SOCIAL SCIENCES 9 2.0 
10. POLITICAL SCIENCE 16 3.5 
11. LAW 4 0.9 
12. EDUCATION 3 0.7 
13. FINE ARTS & ARCHITECTURE 15 3.3 
14. LANGUAGE 4 0.9 
& LITERATURE (GENERAL) 
15. CLASSICAL L & L 22 4.8 
16. ENGLISH L & L 60 13.2 
17. ROMANCE L & L 7 1.5 
18. SCIENCE, MEDICINE, & 33 7.2 
AGRICULTURE 
19. UNKNOWN 1 0.2 
TOTAL 456 100.1 
The results provide an invaluable insight to the col- 
lection. In Table Six, "History" and "Biography" ac- 
count for 16.3% of the total, whereas in Table Seven 
sections 6 and 7 account for 34%, and when taken 
with "Geography," section 8, for 37.3%. In Table 
Six, "Dictionaries," LLP~etry," LLThe Works Of," and 
"Classical Library" account for 14.9%, but in Table 
Seven, sections 1, 13-17 dealing with language and 
literature account for 24.6%. "Religious & Contro- 
versial" rises from 9.0% in Table Six to  12.3% in 
section 4 of Table Seven. "Political" remains quite 
stable at  3.3% in Table Six and 3.5% in Table Seven. 
The appearance in Table Seven of section 18, "Sci- 
ence, Medicine, & Agriculture," was an unexpected 
surprise. Overall, the subject analysis of Table Seven 
enhances the appreciation of the Mackay collection 
and shows that history, biography, language and lit- 
erature were its focal point. 
In evaluating this collection, it is easier to pro- 
vide questions than answers. The first question 
is whether Mackay's books were acquired primar- 
ily for his own reading or, in the tradition of Peter 
~ e d ~ a t h , '  primarily for use in the McGill Library. 
Series such as the "Harper's Family Library" sug- 
gest personal reading, but the British Parliamentary 
histories and debates suggest an institutional desti- 
nation. At least to some extent, Mackay may have 
been deliberately complementing the British history 
collection of Redpath, a fellow Board member. The 
next question is whether Mackay's books added to 
the quality of the McGill collection. To this, the 
answer is unequivocally yes, particularly given the 
small size of the University collection in 1882. Even 
if, by late twentieth-century standards of many of 
his books are now dated, a t  the time they would 
have been timely. At the very least, they are still of 
continuing historiographical importance, in charting 
the evolution of particular disciplines and topics. It 
should also be noted that the twenty-nine volumes of 
Canadian pamphlets, 1770-1854, listed in B, "His- 
tory," helped form the nucleus of McGill's famous 
collection of rare Canadiana. That said, the empha- 
sis upon history in the Redpath and Mackay collec- 
tions seems extraordinary, given that McGill began 
teaching it only in the 1890s. Were these two men so 
visionary as to have realized that history would soon 
be taught and such collections would be needed? Or 
were they simply possessed of such a strong belief 
in history that, whether it was taught or not, they 
thought that the young college needed books on the 
subject? A final point is the phrase "Religious & 
Judge Robert MacKay7s 1882 Catalogue of Books 
Controversial" in Table Six, which suggests a crit- 
ical attitude towards religion that is reinforced by 
Mackay's funeral having been private and therefore 
possibly non-religious. 
Finally, this evaluation must conclude with an ad- 
mission that the "Miscellaneous" Part is the smaller 
portion of a collection, whose larger portion is the 
"Legal" Part, the analysis of which is required for 
the full significance of the Mackay books to be- 
come clear. In the meantime, one can only applaud 
the generosity of spirit that prompted Judge Robert 
Mackay to give such a fine collection to McGill's Li- 
brary. 
Notes 
1. Peter F. McNally and Kevin Gunn, "The McGill 
University Library Catalogue of 1876: a Preliminary 
Statistical Analysis." Fontanus, from the Collec- 
tions of McGill University, v. 9 (1996) pp. 120-124. 
2. Catalogue of Books, by Subjects, of the 
Books Presented to McGill College. by Mr. Justice 
Mackay, 1882. Montreal, Lovell, 1882-1882. 2 parts 
[Part I, Legal, 1883, 26 p; Part 11, Miscellaneous, 
1882, 16 p.]. 
3. Montreal Gazette, February 24, 1888, p. 4, 
February 25, p. 3, February 27, p. 2, February 28, 
p. 3, March 1, p. 3. Montreal Herald, February 
24, 1888, p. 5, February 25, p. 8, February 27, 
p. 8, Henry J. Morgan, Canadian Legal Directory: 
a Guide to the Bench and Bar of the Dominion of 
Canada. Toronto, Carswell, 1878. p. 234. Quebec 
Law Reports. v. 111, no. I1 (November, 1882), List 
of Subscribers, P.-G. Roy, Les Juges de la Province 
de Que'bec. Quebec, Sa Majeste, 1933. pp. 330-331. 
Brian Young, The Politics of Codification: the Lower 
Canadian Civil Code of 1866. Montreal, McGill- 
Queen's, 1994. pp. 110, 214. There is some vari- 
ation among the sources concerning the courts in 
which Mackay served as a judge, and his role in the 
development of the Quebec civil code. 
4. McGill University Archives. Record Group 40, 
Container 2, File "Principal Donors to the Library, 
1882-1885-Lists". 
5. -File "Mackay Library". 
6. See P.F. McNally's forthcoming article on Peter 
and Grace Redpath. 


Judge Robert Mackay's 1882 Catalogue of Books: A Preliminary Analysis

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141 


Guidelines for Authors

Back cover

Clarke, Robert F.

Notes and Comments 
Notes and Comments 
From Chancellor Day to Today: 
McGill and the 130 Years of the Qu6bec Civil Code 
By Robert F. Clarke 
Law Librarian 
In 1996 the McGill Law Library celebrated the 130th anniversary of the enactment of the first Qu6bec Civil 
Code. The Faculty of Law has a long and honourable tradition of involvement with the development and 
revision of this unique Code. An exhibition of works from the collections of the McGill Law Library was 
held in Chancellor Day Hall from September 20 to November 3, 1996. The documents in this exhibition 
illustrated the provenance of the development of the Code. The article below was written in connection with 
the exhibition. 
A Civil Versus Common Law Tradition 
The modern Quebec Civil Code traces its origins to the Couturne de Paris. The civil law tradition, ex- 
emplified by the Code Napole'on and perfected in the French Code civil (1804), proscribes and codifies the 
relationship in law between persons and property. The Civil Code is enacted as a statute, whereas the 
Common Law tradition, practised in all provinces of Canada except Quebec, relies on the interpretation of 
prior judicial decisions, or precedent, to  determine legal boundaries. The Common Law is not a code and 
thus is not defined by statute. 
The unique quality of the duality of the Canadian legal system has gained the admiration of many over 
the years. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, a McGill law graduate who would go on to become Prime Minister of Canada 
and one of the nation's greatest statesmen, expressed his view to the McGill University convocation in 1864: 
Two different legislations govern this c o u n t y :  French legislation and English legislation. 
Each of these legislations are not  confined t o  the race t o  which they are intended but rather 
each rules simultaneously the two races, and, a fact worthy of note, this introduction in the 
same country of two systems of legislation entirely different has been done without violence or  
usurpation but simply by means of law and justice. 
(From: Young, Brian. The Politics of Codification: the Lower Canadian Civil Code of 1866. Mon- 
treal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994. p. 112) 
Charles Dewey Day: Principal, Chancellor and Codifier 
By the mid-19th century, it had become apparent that the application of seigneurial law was no longer 
viable in a society which was becoming increasingly industrialized and complex. In the French-speaking 
legal community of Quebec, a succession of legal theorists underlined the need for a uniquely Canadian 
civil code, to be enshrined in law and which would assure the distinctiveness of the French-Canadian legal 
Notes and Comments 
tradition. From the English-speaking legal community came a growing unrest with a legal tradition that was 
neither written in English nor representative of the main facets of British Common Law. 
During the same period, a number of legislative developments occurred which further underlined the 
inadequacies of the existing civil law regime. Consequently, the legislature of Lower Canada passed an ad  in 
1857 which established a Codification Commission charged with the writing of a civil code for the province. 
This Commission began to  meet in 1859. Among the five Commissioners was Charles Dewey Day, a judge 
and future Chancellor of McGill University. 
Born in Vermont in 1806, Charles Dewey Day came to Lower Canada during the War of 1812 and was 
admitted to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1827. The Faculty of Law was established in 1853 while Day was 
Acting Principal of McGill, an appointment he held until 1855. Day's influence in the drafting of the first 
Civil Code was considerable. Although it is not clear whether his roots in Montreal's anglophone community 
and his influence on the bench in commercial matters were factors, Day undertook the reponsibility for 
authoring most of the Code's chapters on the law of Obligations (contracts) and commercial transactions. 
Day's strong personality, and his drafting of Obligations, gave a central role in the Code to contracts and 
to Day's interpretations and definitions. Articles of Obligations subsequently influenced titles of the Code 
drafted by other codifiers. 
In 1864 - two years before the enactment of the Civil Code - Charles Day was named Chancellor of 
McGill University, a post he held until 1883. Much of Day's success in drafting the major portions of the 
code has been attributed to  his interactions with McGill colleagues during the Commission period. 
The Code, officially titled the Civil Code of Lower Canada (C.C.L.C.), was ultimately brought into being 
by an act of the Legislature of the Province of Canada in 1865 and came into effect in 1866. The C.C.L.C. 
had originally been intended by some as a timeless document that would rarely need to be changed, although 
a number of important and regular amendments were made to it throughout its 125 year history. 
McGill and the Revision of the Civil Code 
It was not until 1955 that the Qu6bec legislature decided to  systematically revise the Code with a view 
to putting it more in step with the social, political and economic realities affecting private law relations in 
Qu6bec. The Civil Code Revision Office (CCRO) was created in that year, with the Honourable Thibaudeau 
Rinfret, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, as its first Chairman. In 1966, Professor 
Paul-Andri! CrCpeau of McGill University's Faculty of Law was appointed Chairman. Several other McGill 
law professors - John E.C. Brierley, Madeleine Cantin Cumyn, Yves Caron and Ethel Groffier, t o  name only 
a few - were prominent participants in the activities of the CCRO during the period of its operation. The 
task before the CCRO was an enormous one: to update the 1866 Code and to articulate the basis for reform 
and revision that a new code might touch upon. Under the direction of CrCpeau, the Civil Code Revision 
Office created some 40 committees, each charged with examining a particular portion of QuCbec's private 
law with a view to its reform. By 1977 the CCRO's work was completed in draft. The Report on the Que'bec 
Civil Code (1977-78) represents the principal manifestation of the work of the CCRO. 
1991: A Completely New Civil Code for Qu6bec 
In spite of the work of Brierley, Cr6peau and their colleagues, the QuCbec government was slow to move on 
the recommendations of the CCRO as set out in its final report. During the 1980s, some additional changes 
were brought to the C.C.L.C., for example in the area of family law. The Quebec National Assembly passed 
a series of laws which updated the Civil Code but did not completely revise it as proposed by the CCRO. 
Notes and Comments 
Finally, commencing in 1987, the Quebec National Assembly passed a series of implementation laws to 
bring into effect a new civil code, t o  be called the Civil Code of Que'bec (C.C.Q.). A 1997 Act of the National 
Assembly set the final stage for the implementation of the new Code. 
Most of the provisions of the new Code had come into force by January 1, 1994. The 3,168 articles of the 
C.C.Q. bear some resemblance to the original Civil Code of Lower Canada but incorporate a significantly 
different interpretation of private law. 
Further information about McGill University and its involvement with the development of the Civil Code of 
Que'bec may be obtained by contacting the Law Library at (514) 398-4715, extension 1556. 
Information about the Archives of the Civil Code Revision Ofice may be obtained via the World Wide Web 
at URL: http://www.library.mcgill.ca/ccro/ 
A Frank Scott letter from 1937 
B y  A.J. Hobbins 
Associate Director, Administration, Libraries 
John Peters Humphrey (1905-1995), author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
and F.R. Scott (1899-1985), famed constitutional lawyer and poet, became friends when they met as under- 
graduates at  McGill University in 1926, and they later spent many years together as colleagues in the McGill 
Faculty of Law. Humphrey, two years behind Scott in law school and six years younger, was very much 
influenced by Scott's ideas. Humphrey returned to Montreal in 1930 after studying in France for a year. 
He observed the misery of the Great Depression first hand and immediately recognized the need for a social 
safety net. He became a socialist and a member of the League for Social Reconstruction, an organization 
co-founded by Scott. Humphrey practiced law in Montreal for a few years before McGill's Dean of Law, 
Percy Corbett (1892-1983), invited him to join the Faculty to teach Corbett's course in Roman law and 
eventually that in international law. At this time the only other full-time members of the faculty were Scott 
and (Charles) Stuart Le Mesurier (b. 1888). Humphrey accepted the position, which was held for a year 
whilst he studied Roman law in Paris on a fellowship from the Carnegie Endowment for World Peace. 
The year 1936137 was a dramatic one on the European stage. In Hitler's Germany the Olympic Games 
became a propaganda event, while thousands of German citizens - principally alleged communists, Jews and 
homosexuals - were being placed in concentration camps. Mussolini's Italy was gearing up for the conquest 
of its African empire. In Spain the civil war, a clash in extreme ideologies, was beginning in earnest. In 
the Soviet Union Stalin had already begun his great purges, while from abroad the exiled Trotsky vilified 
him. Humphrey visited Germany and Italy, and observed developments elsewhere with interest. He reported 
many of his observations in letters t o  his sister Ruth, and to  his colleagues a t  McGill. One of Frank Scott's 
replies1 is given below, followed by some contextual explanation for each paragraph. 


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