McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Burney Centre Collection
General material designation
- Microform
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on content.
Level of description
Collection
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG 1364
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
cm of textual records
microfilm
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(1960-)
Administrative history
The Centre is dedicated to the publication of complete, definitive scholarly editions of the journals and letters of Frances Burney (1752-1840) and the letters and memoirs of her father, the music historian Dr Charles Burney (1726-1814). The Burney Centre was founded in 1960, as the Burney Papers Project, by the late Joyce Hemlow. Dr. Hemlow, the author of The History of Fanny Burney (Clarendon Press, 1958), taught at McGill University from 1948 and served as Director of the Centre until her retirement in 1984. She was succeeded by Lars Troide, who in turn was succeeded in 2003 by the present Director, Peter Sabor.
The Centre works closely with the Burney Society of North America and the United Kingdom, and produces the Society's Burney Journal and Burney Letter.
From its inception, the Burney Centre has been supported by funding from McGill University. In addition, the Centre currently receives generous grants from, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Canada Research Chairs programme, and the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The collection consists of research materials accumulated by members of the Burney Centre between approximately the years 1960 and 2010. The research materials are chiefly photocopies of letters from Burney family members the originals of which are held in European and other North American libraries. There are also three boxes of microfilm of letters, newspapers, and other documents associated with the Burney family. The materials total thousands of photocopies and hundreds of microfilm reels which have brought together ten thousand letters scattered over numerous major collections (including the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library, the Beinecke Library at Yale University, the British Library, the Morgan Library, the Houghton Library at Harvard, and the Huntington Library).
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The Burney Centre's materials were donated to McGill's Rare Books and Special Collections in 2023.
Arrangement
Letter photocopies were arranged according to principal correspondent for ease of research. The microfilm reels form their own series.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
The collection is held off-site at the McGill University Collections Centre. Boxes may be requested for delivery through the library catalogue.