Fonds contains manuscript of the novel "The Unreasoning Heart."

Collection contains primarily of 9 photograph albums containing 457 silver print photographs, and 4 printed items. It also includes records relating to Canadian railways and an export catalogue from the Canadian Car and Foundry Company.

For purposes of arrangement, the Lighthall Papers have been treated as one unit. However, for purposes of descriptions, they have been divided into two parts: the W.D. Lighthall papers and the Lighthall Family papers.

The papers of W.D. Lighthall are divided into a number of different series: an Original Series, Letters and Papers, 1881-1946, and a New Series, Letters and Papers, 1865-1954. The greater part of the correspondence is to be found in these two series.

Although more than forty members of the Lighthall and allied families are represented in the collection, only those with significant bodies of papers are mentioned here, including Cybel Wilkes Lighthall, Alice M. S. Lighthall, Anne Dean Lighthall, W. F. Lighthall, and the Reverend Dr. Henry Wilkes, among others.

This fonds contains material related to the political career and personal life of Noel Noel-Buxton, as well as the political career of his wife, Lucy Noel-Buxton. The documents cover a period between approximately 1860 and 1953. Much of the material concerns Noel Noel-Buxton and Lucy Noel-Buxton's roles as members of parliament - and thus British domestic politics - Noel Noel-Buxton's involvement in various committees and causes generated material related to many parts of Europe (particularly the Balkans), Turkey, Egypt, Southern Africa, Ethiopia, and Hong Kong. There is a significant amount of content related to the First and Second World Wars, and Anglo-German relations more broadly.

The fonds is arranged into 5 series, grouped by activity: 1 - Correspondence, 2 - Writings, 3 - Subject files, 4 - Personal and financial documents, 5 - Published material. Documents in these series include correspondence, notes, drafts and manuscripts, publications and reports, clippings from newspapers and magazines, and some photographs and drawings.

Fonds consists of notebook kept by Tetley chiefly during the Second World War, while on active duty with the Canadian Royal Navy. The first entry is dated August 14, 1945, and begins with Tetley reporting for duty. The diary records daily activities onboard. From February 21, 1946, entries describe daily life in Montreal and at McGill, with detailed impressions of friends and acquaintances, often with full names and addresses. The final full daily entry is dated February 28, 1946. Following that, entries record major events, such as moving to Quebec in summer of 1949 or convocation, with acquaintances made and Tetley's descriptions and impressions of them, often with names and contact information. Other events noted include Provincial Congress at Quebec, September 1950; "Soirée à la Marine," February 10, 1950; summer in the navy in England, 1951; Boy Scout Campaign, February 1952. Final entries are undated, but the journal appears to end in 1952. The fonds also includes some items previously laid in to the diary, including one black and white photograph of a coastline (laid in before entry dated Sept. 18, 1945), 2 loose leaves with lists of names and some addresses and a postcard, and 2 doctor's notes certifying Tetley's vaccination laid in between pages 92 and 93. Other items laid or tipped in include: invitation to McGill Founders Day Convocation 1950, with notes, and pages from address books.

The collection was formed by the Canadian puppeteer Rosalynde Osborne Stearn as a comprehensive library on the puppet theatre with representative examples of puppets characteristic of different periods and countries. It includes some 2714 books and periodicals from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on the puppet theatre in various European languages as well as scripts for puppet plays. The collection contains 171 puppets from Europe, Asia (including shadow puppets), and the Americas, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Also included are toy theatres, theatrical portraits, paintings, prints and posters.

Bellair's personal papers comprise scrapbooks, 1898-1939; biographical, parliamentary and miscellaneous notes, 1879-1945; and correspondence, 1889-1951. His professional life is reflected in files on naval affairs, 1894-1937, and in an extensive series of political papers including general correspondence and subject files, 1905-1946; material relating to committees, 1904-1930; and political 'forecasts', 1900-1945. Literary interests are revealed by notes on Sir John Fisher, 1915, and H.G. Wells, 1932-1934. Some books from Bellairs' library, with his annotations, are included in his papers.

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 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.