The David Hume Collection contains letters and other ephemera brought together from multiple acquisitions. The principal manuscripts are found in is the bound volume containing letters from David Hume to the Comtesse de Boufflers. There are also letters from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others for a total of 59 letters. This collection of letters was the basis for the anonymously edited Private Correspondence of David Hume with Several Distinguished Persons, Between the Years 1761 and 1776. Now First Published From the Originals. (London: Printed for Henry Colburn and Co., 1820.) One of the McGill copies of this book belonged to the Montreal lawyer and book collector Frederick Griffin (1798-1877). In addition to this volume there are eight other Hume letters. Some of these have been published by Professor Klibansky and Ernest C. Mosser in New Letters of David Hume. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954). Finally, there are photographic copies of Hume manuscripts held by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and typed copies of official letters on Canada from the manuscripts of Sir Mark Dalrymple.
This volume is a friendship book in which Bernice Parsons' classmates wrote verse or sentiments. The book also served as a scrapbook of memorabilia, such as dance and concert programmes, birthday cards, and verses on Dean Laird, Mr. Percival, and the College menu.
The fonds (1950-1981) contain scientific correspondence as well as Leblond's correspondence generated by his administrative functions as Chairman of the Anatomy Department. The fonds also include minutes of meetings, reports and brochures of associations, documents on congresses and conferences, committees, grants, and a list of publications by Leblond and his associates.
The fonds comprises of files including letters to Jean Purvis in Montreal from her mother Jennie Purvis and father Henry Purvis in Paisley Scotland, and letters to her from relatives from the United Kingdom (1930-1944). Included is also one letter to Jean from Lalla Stanhope addressed to the Recruiting Office in Paisley in 1918. The fonds also contains the accounts of the execution of the will of the late John Purvis (1954), brother of Jean’s father Henry Purvis.
The fonds present extremely rich source for the study of Montreal and Quebec social and legal history. The fonds (mainly 1820-1890) comprises of judicial diaries or judges' bench books, which contain unique information: the opinions and memoranda of judges and lawyers of the Lower Canada and the Quebec Superior Court written down in the course of trials. They reflect the judge's interpretation of the law, his reaction to arguments and they show the background to official verdicts. The fonds contain bench books of Judges Robert Mackay (1871-1882), Andrew Stuart (1859-1885), Frederick Torrance (1869-1880). There are also record books of several law firms including Rose and Holmes (1840-1850), and Torrance and Morris (1850-1875). Included is also administrative correspondence, factums on various Montreal judges and lawyers, dockets and other records of law firms, legal authority books, commonplace books and other notes of individual lawyers. Present is also small number of lecture notes by lecturers in the Faculty of Law, student notes, scrapbooks as well as legal notes of unknown provenance. The bench books are in bound volume arranged in chronological order, the correspondence and authorities books are arranged by name or subject. There are contemporary indexes to the bench books of F. Torrance and R. Mackay.
The earlier dates of the fonds concern John Monk, Elizabeth Monk’s grandfather, and consists of genealogical tables, originals of his and his wife’s wills and a xerox copy of his admission to the Bar of Lower Canada. There are letters from both, Elizabeth Monk’s mother and father, some of which cover the years her father was prospecting in Yukon. Later dates include newspaper clippings recording many of the outstanding events in Elizabeth Monk’s life. There are a few personal letters, a copy of her valedictory address to the Class of 1919 and correspondence relating to the McGill Marlet Memorial Fund established after her death. Other correspondence, mainly copies of outgoing letters (1962-1975), Elizabeth Monk's student essays (1915) and high school and university certificates won by Elizabeth Monk are pat of the collection. copies of outgoing letters (1962-1975) and Elizabeth Monk’s student essays (1915) are part of the collection.
