The Coppenrath Collection of Voyageurs Contracts for the North West Company partners contains 52 contracts for the period from approximately 1800 to 1821. These document the terms of engagement for men going into the North West . Voyageur contracts are of particular interest for study of the fur trade, Canada's first major industry, because they document the conditions of employment for many of the journeymen ("engagés") involved in the trade, both those who worked on the Ottawa River and those who "wintered" in the North West. The contracts are dated from 1800 to 1821 with printed forms from before 1800 being used in some cases. A significant number of outfitters are included namely the firm of McTavish, McGillivrays & Co. with various partners including John Ogilvy and Thomas Thain, Pierre de Rocheblave and earlier partnership – McTavish, Frobisher & Co. As well, there are contracts with lesser known outfitters. These contracts provide not only the names of the "engagés" but usually their place of residence and the conditions and terms of their employment.
This large collection documents Sandford's involvement with various private presses. Included is correspondence relating to the Boars Head Press, 1932-1939, with the Folio Society, Nonsuch Press and Golden Cockerel Press. There is also correspondence with various individuals relating to Sandford's writings about contemporary private presses. Included are original drawings by Dorothea Braby for the Labyrinth of the World as well as 18 boxes of electros and wood blocks from various Boars Head and Golden Cockerel Press Books.
Sangster's papers include two notebooks one containing subscriptions to Hesperus and Other Poems, 1860; and the other containing subscriptions to The St.Lawrence and the Saguenay, 1856; with newspaper reviews of his work, 1856-1887, as well as manuscript versions of Hesperus and other poems and Passing Thoughts. Also included are autograph notes concerning himself and his family; a phrenological character of Sangster, 1859, and a typescript made at McGill of his poems.
Collection consists of Canadiana assembled by Charles Kadwell: Canadiana: or, A medley of sundry matters in print and manuscript, relating principally to the Canadas; (during the period of the rebel-lions;) the other British North American colonies; and the neighbouring United States; with views, maps, plans, portraits, &c. and private journals. 2 vol. Folio. Vol 1 includes "Remarks during a voyage from London to Montreal in the year 1832"; "Notes during a trip from Montreal to Upper Canada... 3rd-18th August 1838"; "Calendar of remarkable events relating to British North America and the United States". Mostly cuttings from newspapers. A pedigree of the Kadwell family has been inserted by L.G. Macdonald, Q.C., and annotated by Robert Howard. Vol. 2, mostly newspapers.
Fonds consists of a one document, a manuscript of reminiscences of Charles James, born in Montreal in 1835. The document is internally dated in April 1915. James describes his childhood as the son of a carriage and sleigh builder born in England who conducted much business for the British military stationed in Montreal. The family resided on Craig Street. Reminiscences include descriptions of Montreal, the building of the locks on the Lachine canal, a trip up the Ottawa River to Bytown (Ottawa) and then to Kingston, where the family resided for a time. James joined his father in the trade of carriage trimming as a young man before becoming a Baptist minister in Stratford, Canada, and later Wellesley.
