Collection consists chiefly of an album of photographs and clippings compiled by Cecile (Burroughs) Masson. Captions date the photographs to between 1915 and 1940, with one earlier photograph from 1883 that depicts Cecile and Rodrigue Masson's wedding. Many of the personal photographs depict members of the Masson family taken in Terrebonne, Quebec (where the Masson family home was located), in Ottawa, and during travels to Italy, London, the south of France. There are 28 leaves of full page plates of travel photographs from France, Italy, and Africa. Also included in the album are postcards and newspaper clippings. One series of postcards depicts architecture in Terrebonne, Quebec. The clippings include a letter to the editor written by L. R. Masson (Mrs. L. A. Globensky) and published in the Montreal Star, 1939. Other clippings relate to the S-Plan, a bombing campaign by the Ireland Republic Army, in 1939, as well as the British royal family. The album is half bound in faux black morocco and pebbled cloth boards with the initials C. M. stamped in gilt on the front cover. A caption at the head of the second leaf reads "This album is for mother from Grace", with "mother" crossed out. An inscription on the first leaf reads "This is for my dear daughter Cecile. Many happy memories of the past - affectionately from Mother." The collection also includes two loose black and white photograph portraits, one of which is inscribed to Aunt Cecile.
The collection comprises more than 6,000 Canadian and non-Canadian bookplates. The Masson collection reflects the range and scope of the art of bookplate design, mirroring period styles and incorporating the owners’ personal tastes and pursuits. References to heraldry, literature, nature and art are common. The collection was created by Montrealer Philippe Masson (1911-1944) and includes both personal and institutional plates. The nearly 3,000 Canadian bookplates are arranged alphabetically. The rest of the bookplate collection is divided between armorial and non-armorial plates. This unique collection represents a wide range of book ownership reflecting institutions, book sellers, and individuals as well as over one hundred examples of bookplates from Canadian libraries. The chronological coverage dates to more than a century from the early nineteenth century and continuing to the beginning of the Second World War. Bookplate design is a minor yet notable form of graphic design. Bookplates reveal a great deal about our book-centered culture. For many institutions, bookplates possess an iconographic or emblematic value reflecting the values of the institution. As well, within an institutional setting, bookplates are often used to acknowledge individual collections, gifts and bequests. Finally, for the individual the bookplate is a powerful symbol of possession and a love of books. Among the Canadian bookplates, many well-known Canadian artists are represented in the Masson collection including J. E. H. MacDonald, his son Thoreau MacDonald, Jean-Paul Lemieux, and W. F. G. Godfrey.
This collection consists of 15 autograph letters between a sender who is only identified by the initials "J.T." and a Miss Fanny Caulfield. Also included is a love letter by Irish poet J. Finnerty, dated 1852.
The Burney family manuscript collection consists chiefly of material created by Fanny Burney (1752-1840), novel Evelina (1778) was a bestseller during her life time and is still in print, as well as by Burney family members and friends. The manuscript collection contains correspondence, letter fragments, and a journal kept by Fanny Burney (1812), and other materials by Burney herself, other members of her family, and members of their circle. The collection also includes significant correspondence for her father, the musician and musical historian Charles Burney (1726-1814).
The fonds consists of books and other materials about Black people in history and contemporary society which Roy States collected from his teenage years to the end of his life. The materials are primarily English-language works produced during his lifetime, and the majority of them are from Canada or the United States. The physically largest series within the collection (Series B, Monographs) consists of 679 published volumes, most of them books and a smaller number of them booklets. These volumes are all catalogued individually, with a common sublocation of "Roy States Collection" within Rare Books and Special Collections. The remaining series contain a diversity of published, ephemeral, and unpublished materials, including various items by or about Roy States himself. Series A is a group of biographical materials and other items which relate directly to States. Series C consists of booklets and brochures. Series D consists of complete issues of newspapers, and Series E consists of complete issues of serials other than newspapers. Series F contains an assortment of newspaper and magazine clippings, as well as reprinted or photocopied extracts from books, journals and other works. Series G contains materials relating to conferences and meetings, chiefly involving groups and organizations advocating for civil rights; the materials include programs, agendas, minutes and reports, as well as the text of various speeches presented at these events. Series H consists primarily of graphic materials which have been mounted in cardboard-and-plastic display sleeves or in glass-fronted wooden frames. Series I is a group of miscellaneous materials such as studies, reports, typescripts, bibliographies and leaflets.
Fonds contains an inventory of joint property between the late Jean Orillat, a French Canadian merchant, and his wife, Thérèse-Amable Viger. Inventory signed by notary Mesière. ("Inventaire des biens de la communauté d’entre feu Mr Jean Orillat à dame Thérèse Viger son épouse, 19 juin. 1779.)
Collection includes a scrapbook created by Maude Lilian Bremner during her time in South Africa as a teacher to Boer children in refugee camps, as well as other related loose clippings and ephemera. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, postcards, and other ephemera tipped in. Many of the clippings are articles reprinting letters written home by Bremner and other volunteer teachers in her contingent. Collection also includes a published Memorandum respecting the engagement of teachers for the refugee camps in South Africa.
