Series consists of research materials, manuscripts, galley proofs, correspondence, photographs, book reviews, and other records related to the preparation and publication of Witold Rynczynski's many books on architecture. It also includes records related to public lectures given by Rybczynski (File 43) and Rynbczynski's author photos (File 47), as well as assorted essays: Public Interest, Wilson Quarterly, Places, New Yorker, Doubletake (File 57).

The publications found in this series include:

• Stop the Fecal Peril (1977) with Polprasert & McGarry, IDRC/World Bank, Annotated Bibliography: Manuscript & bound draft (File 50)

• Paper Heroes: Appropriate Technology, Panacea or Pipedream? (1980): Research materials (File 01), Manuscript & Galleys (File 02), Correspondence (File 59), Bound book (File 63)

• Taming the Tiger: The Struggle to Control Technology (1983): Manuscript (File 03), Correspondence (File 59), Bound book (File 63)

• Home: A Short History of an Idea (1986): Research materials (File 4), Reviews (File 5), Manuscript & galleys (File 6), Interviews &, Reviews (File 58), Correspondence (File 59), Bound book (File 63)

• The Most Beautiful House in the World (1989): Manuscript (File 7), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Interviews & Reviews (File 58), Bound book (File 63)

• Waiting for the Weekend (1991): Galleys and manuscript (File 10), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Manuscript (File 48), Interviews & Reviews (File 58), Bound book (File 60)

• Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture (1992): Manuscript (File 12), Manuscript (File 48), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Interviews & Reviews (File 58), Bound book (File 60)

• A Place for Art: The Architecture of the National Gallery of Canada (1993): Bound book (File 61)

• City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World (1995): Manuscript (File 2), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Bound book (File 63)

• A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century (1999): Research materials (Filees 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17), Reviews and illustrations (File 19), Field trip photographs (File 18), Bound book (File 62)

• One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw (2000): Research materials (Files 20 & 21), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Bound book (File 62)

• The Look of Architecture (2001): Manuscript & Galleys (File 2), Interviews & Reviews (File 58), Bound book (File 62)

• The Perfect House: A Journey with the Renaissance Master Andrea Palladio (2002), Research materials, field notes (Files 22 & 23), Manuscripts and galleys (Files 24 & 56), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Field trip photographs (File 49), Bound book (File 63)

• Vizcaya: An American Villa and Its Makers (2006): Bound book (File 61)

• Last Harvest: How a Cornfield became New Daleville: Real Estate Development in America from George Washington to the Builders of the Twenty-First Century, and Why We Live in Houses Anyway (2007): Manuscript (Files 25, 26, 27, 55 & 8), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Research materials, interviews, field notes, chapter by chapter (Files 28 & 29), Bound book (File 63)

• My Two Polish Grandfathers: And Other Essays on the Imaginative Life (2009): Research materials (File 31), Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Manuscript, interviews, letters (9 digital files, 674 ps))

• Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities (2010): Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Manuscript, research materials (6 digital files, 179 ps), Bound book (File 62)

• The Biography of a Building: How Robert Sainsbury and Norman Foster Built a Great Museum (2011): Research materials, interviews, articles. (File 32, 33, 34 & 35), Manuscript, interviews, letters (122 digital files, 2,167 ps)

• How Architecture Works: A Humanist’s Toolkit (2013): Manuscripts, 5 versions (Files 36 & 37), Bound uncorrected proof (File 09), Manuscript, interviews, letters (53 digital files, 976 ps)

• Mysteries of the Mall: and Other Essays (2015): Bound uncorrected proof (File 9), Manuscript, interviews, letters (11 digital files, 348 ps), Bound book (Box 61)

• Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair: A Natural History (2016): Manuscripts, 5 consecutive versions (File 38), Bound uncorrected proof (File 09), Manuscript, interviews, letters (40 digital files, 1,075 ps), Bound book (File 61)

• Miscellaneous reviews & articles (Files 39, 40, 41, 42 & 11): Interviews, Reviews, Home, Waiting for the Weekend, The Most, - Beautiful House in the World, Looking Around, Look of Architecture (File 58)

The fonds contains the professional papers of Canadian-American architect Witold Rybczynski. They comprise textual records including book manuscripts and proofs, research materials, reviews, correspondence, and teaching material, as well as slides and digital files representing his career as an author and educator.

The Harold Spence-Sales fonds at McGill’s Canadian Architecture Collection primarily contains project records related to Harold Spence-Sales' career as an architect and urban planner. The bulk of the records pertain to projects that Harold Spence-Sales worked on as well as corresponding financial, administrative and office records.

The fond heavily documents projects that Harold Spence-Sales worked on during the 1970s-1980s in British Columbia and in Quebec during the 1940s-1960s. Other projects that Harold Spence-Sales worked on across Canada and internationally appear intermittently throughout the fonds. The Oromocto community planning project that Harold Spence-Sales worked on from 1955-1958 in New Brunswick is particularly well documented. Harold Spence-Sales designed Oromocto to be a military town. Before He transformed Oromocto into a military town it was a defunct 19th century shipbuilding town. The Oromocto project is considered one of Harold Spence-Sales most important urban-town planning projects.

Apart from administrative, office and project records, the fonds also contains records that relate to Harold Spence-Sales professional activities outside of his work as an architect and urban planner. For example, awards and honors that he received and records related to his involvement in architectural and urban planning associations. Additional professional activities include: his involvement in creating exhibitions, curating architectural-themed magazines and periodicals as well as copies of publications that he worked on solo and in collaboration with John Bland.

The fonds also contains fourteen boxes of Harold Spence-Sales personal records. The personal records primarily cover Harold Spence-Sales interest in art, creative pursuits, family activities, family genealogy, personal finances, last will and testaments as well as his decline in health and his death. Within the fourteen boxes that have been cataloged as personal records, there are also materials related to Harold Spence-Sales professional activities. For example, awards that Harold Spence-Sales received and records related to exhibitions and artistic projects that he worked on.

The file is a binder. The binder contains thirteen pages of slide-transparencies. Some of the slides are annotated with an order schema.

The file also includes a UPS parcel shipping order dated October 11th 2012. The order states that that the contents of the parcel are pictures of Harold Spence-Sales slides and other materials.

The order was sent to 815 Sherbrook Street West Montreal; McGill's School of Urban Planning. The person who received the package was Dr. Raphael Fischler.

Series 2 contains records that documents the professional activities of Harold Spence-Sales that are unrelated to the professional projects that he worked on. Series 2 contains records regarding Harold Spence-Sales activities within professional associations. Series 2 also holds copies of many of the articles and books Harold Spence-Sales wrote as a solo author as well as titles that he collaborated on with John Bland. Series 2 also documents Harold Spence-Sales exhibition interests. Primarily exhibitions that Harold Spence-Sales worked on. Moreover, Series 2 also contains issues of urban planning and architectural publications that were of interest to Harold Spence-Sales.

Series 2 Also contains some records related to Architects Humphrey Carver, Moshe Safdie and Peter Oberlander who were colleagues and friends of Harold Spence-Sales. These records can be found in series 2 subsereies E.

Subseries B consists of records related to Harold Spence-Sales interest in creating exhibitions.

Subseries B primarily consists of records related to Spence-Sales Exhibition; “Touchlines”. Harold Spence-Sales worked on developing the “Touchlines” exhibition from 1989-1991. The exhibition was displayed at Western Washington University from May 10 through July 30, 1992 . The topic of the “Touchlines” exhibition was to portray the common lands along the border between the United States and Canada and the people that pass through them.

In series 1 Subseries F: Audiovisual and artifacts there are several VHS cassette tapes that discuss the "Touchlines" exhibition.

Another Exhibition that is well represented in the fonds is the "Vancouver Parks" exhibition that Harold Spence-Sales worked on in 1988. All files in box C-97-64 are related to the "Vancouver Parks" exhibition in some way.

There are some files that clearly indicate that it contains records related to the "Vancouver Parks" exhibition based on the title. Any file that contains "Vancouver Parks" in the title may be related to the "Vancouver Parks" exhibition.

Series consists of architecture books and periodicals from Spence-Sales's personal library.

The file represents a box. The box contains an assortment of magazines. However, The most recurring titles are l’ARCA, and Architecture and Urbanism.

The magazines in the box have been placed in alphabetical order.

Subseries D consists of a collection of magazines and periodicals that Harold Spence-Sales curated. The topics of the magazines and periodicals pertains to issues in architecture and urban planning.

Many of the magazines and periodicals feature Moshe Safdie; particularly the ones in box C-97-46.