Collection consists of correspondence from J.W.A. Hickson between 1912 and 1956.

The Red River Settlement was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk (1771-1820) who was granted 300,000 square kilometres (120,000 sq mi) of land the Hudson's Bay Company. Upon inheriting his father's title in 1799, Selkirk focused the majority of his time and resources on establishing a Scottish colony in North America. Selkirk was influenced by humanitarian luminaries such as William Wilberforce and, following the forced displacement of Scottish farmers that took place during the Highland Clearances, decided that emigration was the only viable option to improve the livelihood of the Scottish people. In July 1811 Miles MacDonell sailed from Yarmouth, England to the Hudson's Bay post at York Factory with 36 primarily Irish and Scottish settlers. Due to persuasive efforts of the North West Company only 18 settlers actually arrived at Red River in August 1812. Dogged by poor harvests and a growing population, MacDonell, now governor of Red River, issued the Pemmican Proclamation in January 1814 to prevent the export of pemmican from the colony. In doing so, MacDonell undermined the security of Red River and plunged the colony into a conflict with the North West Company that would not end until 1821.

On 11 June 1815, representatives of the North West Company attacked and fired upon the colonists, and demanded the surrender of Governor MacDonell, who, to avoid the loss of blood, gave himself up voluntarily. He was taken to Montreal as a prisoner, and charges were laid against him by his enemies, but his case was not tried. These depositions concern this case.

Items include:
Deposition of John Pritchard before A.N. McLeod, 4 June 1816, concerning the attack by Alexander MacDonell of the Hudson’s Bay Company on the tool house of the North West Company at Pimbina River, and the theft of property. Copy dated 30 December 1819.

Letter from John Pritchard to A. Norman McLeod, 28 June 1816, from the “Entrance of the Red River”, describing events at the Red River including a raid by a group led by a Canadian named Bushé, and the capture of Pritchard and his men by them.

Letter from John Johnston at Fort William, 9 Sept 1816, to A. Norman McLeod, describing his duties as acting manager there for the North West Company and the terms of the negotiations between himself and Lord Selkirk. He states that he intends to travel to Montreal.

Affidavit by the Earl of Selkirk, Montreal, 18 March 1818, concerning the dispute between himself and the North West Company, and the inability to attend the upcoming Quarter Sessions at Sandwich.

Collection consists of three albums containing photographs taken at Grenfell Mission and one framed photograph. Albums feature many photographs of St. Anthony and the region, its inhabitants, the medical staff at the Grenfell Mission, and activities such as dogsledding.

Containing a significant amount of information concerning the latter years of Napoleon’s reign (ca. 1810-1815), this carton would be of particular interest to researchers interested in the Armistice at Pleswitz and the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Diplomatic dealings between Metternich and Caulaincourt are particularly heavily represented. The dense copies of diplomatic correspondence could be of considerable interest to researchers with a sharp focus on the day-to-day negotiations concerning Pleswitz and Fontainebleau.

In addition, Folder 17 contains an unpublished description of the post-Waterloo Hundred Days by Caulaincourt. Therein, Caulaincourt recounts a broad narrative from the defeat at Waterloo to the Bourbon Restoration, including important descriptions of the question of succession and of the final push made by the Allies to restore Louis XVIII to the throne.

The collection was assembled by the Rare Book Department at McGill to group a number of anonymous poetry collections and verse miscellanies dating from roughly the long eighteenth century. These include: a volume written around 1700 containing Milton's Comus and other poems, largely elegiac; a group of 38 original poems from 1774; satires of Cambridge personalities by an undergraduate (1795-1800); a volume of poems bound in vellum written in various hands by George Colin Campbell, Miss Flaxman, Mrs. A. M. Keith, Bernard Bolton, George Tucker and others, with sketches (1817); and Lady Murray's poetry commonplace-book (approximately 1820) containing poems by celebrated authors and some original pieces.

Affidavit concerning Bown’s controversy with the Hudson’s Bay Company over the printing by the Nor’-Wester of a petition on memorial dealing with imprisonment of Dr. John Schultz. It is dated 10 July 1868 at St. Cloud Minn. Note: Part of Exhibit A, and all of Exhibits B, C, & D are missing.

The collection consists of four early Irish manuscripts assembled by the Montreal collector Edward Murphy as part of his private library. The manuscripts include a copy of The Midnight Court (Cúirt an mheán oíche) by Brian Merriman, the Life of St. Patrick by John Chambers, Tri Biorghaoithe an Bhais (Three shafts of death) by Geoffrey Keating, and a fragment of an Irish vocabulary (Nuadhfoclóir bogcruaideach).

The F.R. Scott Collection contains documents pertaining to many differents aspects of F.R. Scott's life and career. His early political involvement in CCF (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the political party at the origin of the creation of the federal New Democratic Party [NDP]) constitutes one series; his interest in poetry another one. Also some important legal actions are documented here about language and education rights in Quebec schools. The last series contains more personal items probably gathered for an official commemorative service: tributes, press clippings. Includes F.R. Scott's passport for Montreal's Expo 1967.

Contains copies of fur trade documents bearing on the Mandan-Hidatsa trade with North West Company posts in central Canada, 1793-1805. Includes the journals of John Macdonell (McGill), David Thompson (Archives of Ontario), François-Antoine Larocque (LAC & Université de Montréal, Baby Collection. Draft before publication of: Early fur trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian traders among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738-1818 : the narratives of John Macdonell, David Thompson, Franc̦ois-Antoine Larocque, and Charles McKenzie / edited and with an introduction by W. Raymond Wood and Thomas D. Thiessen. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, c1985.

The Tundra Books fonds contains a collection of archival records documenting Tundra's publishing history. It includes correspondence with Tundra authors and artists, most notably with William Kurelek. Parts of the archival material document the development and production of each title and May Cutler's dealings with government and funding agencies. The archival materials document a significant chapter in Canadian post-war publishing history.