This collection consists of letters written by Canadian soldiers serving in the Second World War, between 1943 and 1944. The letters were written to family members or romantic partners, while the soldiers were in training in England, or deployed in Europe. The collection also includes some letters written to the soldiers. Contents of the letters chiefly concern news from home and the daily life of soldiers.
The collection is divided into three series, one for each soldier. Series 1 contains correspondence between Robert C. Parsons and his wife, Peggy Parsons. Series 2 contains correspondence between Jack Mills and his mother, C.I. Mills, and brother, Bob Mills. Series 3 contains correspondence between A.V. "Mac" Cormack and his girlfriend Florence Morgan Graham, as well as a letter from Mac's roommate G.D. "Jerry" Royds, also to Florence.
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.
Collection consists of six account books dating from the 1830s to the 1860s, including ledgers and daybooks, used and kept primarily by Enoch Curtis for his leather tanning business. There are also some loose accounts and notes on small sheets of paper. The ledgers use a single-entry bookkeeping method in £sd. They are organized by individual merchant account, with records of debits (purchases or expenditures made) and credits (payments or goods received). Parallel underlining and Xs indicate when an account has balanced. The collection also includes some records related to Stella Curtis from the 1890s, including one letter and two sheets of math problems marked Clarenceville Model School.
This collection consists of contemporary copies of letters written by T. Blackwood from Michilimackinac to James and Andrew McGill & Co., to Ch. Chaboillez, and to T. and J. McGregor.
The collection consists of documents amassed by Roderick Mackenzie. Among the Masson manuscripts there are other series of letters; as well as journals kept by North-Westers and various business documents. Some of this material exists as originals; others are contemporary copies - the George Keith letters for example are contemporary copies on paper watermarked 1827. The collection also includes some duplicate texts - contemporary copies or later nineteenth-century copies that in some cases represent edited versions of the texts. Samuel Wilcocke's account of the death of Benjamin Frobisher exists in a draft original (or contemporary copy) and in a late nineteenth-century clean copy. Of course Benjamin Frobisher did not die in the dramatic circumstances as recorded by Wilcocke, but peacefully in Quebec City in 1821.
The collection consists of fifteen volumes, primarily manuscript with some printed, containing over 1,300 culinary and medical handwritten recipes, plus numerous loose recipes also mainly manuscript. The documents in the collection originated chiefly from the Doncaster area of South Yorkshire, centred on Hooten Pagnell Hall. Many of the manuscripts and notes are signed by or addressed to Sarah Anne Warde. Series 1 comprises the fifteen bound volumes, two of which are printed works by female authors, while the remaining thirteen are manuscript notebooks. Two of these manuscript notebooks are attributed to Sarah Anne Warde, while one is attributed to Eliza Smithson. The manuscript attributed to Eliza Smithson contains table setting riddles (also known as an enigmatical bill of fare). Loose recipes are found in Series 2. This series consists of approximately 300 culinary, medical, and household recipes dating from roughly the 1780s through the 1850s.
Collection consists of menus acquired individually by the library. Menus date back to 1877, but most of the menus are twentieth century. The bulk of menus are from Montreal-area restaurants and hotels, representing French, Quebecois, and other styles of cuisine such as Indian. Some menus are from specific dinners given at hotels, special events, or in honour of dignitaries, such as a dinner for Edward, Prince of Wales, 1919. A subset of menus relate specifically to travel and include train dining car menus and steamship menus.
This collection consists of twelve documents concerning the settlement of the Algonquin and Nipissing First Nations at Oka, Quebec, some in Anishinaabemowin, 1831-1853. There are also letters and documents mostly addressed to N. O. Greene, a solicitor and activist, concerning the Indigenous communities of Oka, 1878-1880.
