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.

Etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi printed in Paris between 1800 and 1809. Sixteen plates numbered I-XVI, with the title plate first used in the second edition of 1761 and the two plates added to the second edition, Pl. II “The Man on a Rack,” and plate V, “The Lion-Bas Reliefs” as well as plate XVI, the reworked “Pier with Chains.” All plates with Roman numerals added in the second editions, numbered I-XVI, including the title plate.

The collection consists of 38 letters written by a small group of French Canadian Protestant friends living in the villages of St. Philippe, Grande Ligne, and Ste. Philomène in southern Quebec, as well as in the city of Montreal. Among the letters are those by Samuel Perrier, a Quebec farmer and dedicated letter writer, primarily addressed to his future wife, Eugenie Molleur (1862–1948), and to one of his daughters, Aline, who attended L'Institut Méthodiste Français.

These letters provide a vivid depiction of the challenging rural life faced by Quebec farmers, highlighting issues such as fatigue, poor crop yields, a shortage of farm labour, harsh winters, health struggles, and local news. They also reflect the parents' determination to improve their children's futures by sending them to school to learn English, accounting, music, and teaching. The collection additionally includes a small selection of poems and songs.

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 materials dated from approximately 1850-1981, but predominantly from 1913-1940, relating to Dr. Casey Albert Wood’s research, writing, correspondence, and personal interest concerning ornithology, vertebrate zoology, memoir and family history, Emma Shearer Wood and Blacker Library collection development, ophthalmology, politics, and current events. Materials relate chiefly to Wood’s “Introduction to the Literature of Vertebrate Zoology” (1921-1956), falconry (1930s), his unpublished memoir (1930s), the development of McGill University’s Emma Shearer Wood and Blacker Libraries (1918-1941), the history of ophthalmology (1925-1936), “Fundus Oculi” (1911-1934), his travels and research expeditions studying birds in their natural habitat (1920-1940), political interests, and correspondence relating to these activities and subjects.

There are approximately 2902 incoming and outgoing pieces of correspondence including letters, postcards, notes, telegrams, and cards. Series 1) Research and writing, contains the largest volume of correspondence relating to “the Introduction to the Literature of Vertebrate Zoology.” While Series 2) Research trips, contains the largest portion of photographs. Other materials in this collection include research notes, manuscripts, page and galley proofs, book and article reprint publications, postcards, artwork, glass plate negatives, book plates, palm leaf manuscripts, artefacts, printed ephemera, clippings, journals, and administration and financial records relating to Wood’s publications or the Emma Shearer Wood and Blacker Libraries.

There are gaps within this collection relating to geographic locations, as not all locations Wood is known to have visited are represented or are only minimally represented. Asian countries, such as China or Japan, are not represented in this collection. While geographic locations that are prominent within the collection are Fiji, Sri Lanka and India.

The series consists of 1) research and writing (ca. 1850-1956); 2) research trips (1920-1937); 3) scrapbooks (1887-1946); 4) collection development (1918-1941); 5) published books (1907-1981); 6) artefacts (191-?, 1920-1937); and 7) glass negative plates (1924, 1927, 1930, 1956).

The collection consists primarily of correspondence on natural history topics between scientists and natural historians. Letters are sometimes accompanied by journal articles.

Figures with significant correspondence within the collection include: Casey Albert Wood, Henry Mousley, Robert Ridgway, and Bowdler Sharpe.

The collection consists of 50 original illustrations created by Edward Lear (1812-1888) executed primarily in watercolour and pencil. These works are part of Lear's Fifty Original Drawings of Birds and a Few Indistinct Pencil Sketches, published between 1835 and 1836. The illustrations and sketches feature depictions of a variety of bird species, including raptors, parrots, cranes, and waterfowl.

Among the species illustrated are the White-tailed Eagle, Grey Parrot, Whooper Swan, Andean Condor, Peregrine Falcon, and King Vulture. The illustrations are often annotated with descriptive details about the colours and features of the birds. Some also include pencil sketches and test patches of color.

Some of the illustrations include unidentified species, including a raptor with prey, an owl, and various parrots. Several of the illustrations are signed and dated by the artist, with the majority titled in pencil at the bottom of each sheet.

The collection consists primarily of manuscripts and typescripts of papers written on natural history topics, such as insects, birds, marine life, plants, and reptiles. Most of the documents concern the collection and cataloguing of specimens, and the identification of new species. Also included are research notes, notebooks, field notes, lecture notes, correspondence, off-prints, proofs, and galley proofs, as well as drawings and mock-ups of illustrations for printing.

The Philippines are the most heavily-represented country in the subject material of the collection, followed by other areas of South-East Asia and the South Pacific, including Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Taiwan, the Soloman Islands, and Hawaii. There is also material representing North and Central America, including Mexico, the United States of America (especially California and Alaska), El Salvador, the Galapagos, and Canada (especially Quebec and Newfoundland). Some works also relate to China, the British Isles, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, and Socotra (Yemen).

Significant figures represented in the collection include: Richard Crittenden McGregor, A.E. Wileman, Edward Charles Stuart Baker, Frank Spaeth, Casey Albert Wood, Averil Lysaght, Harry S. Swarth, Henry Seebohm, Henry George Vennor, Roy E. Dickerson, J. Muir, and Charles Fuller Baker.

Highlights from the collection include: a manuscript copy of Joseph Banks’ journal from his 1768-1771 voyage on the Endeavour, likely made by Maria Dawson Turner; a manuscript, and several annotated typescript versions of Volume 5 of E.C. Stuart Baker’s “Fauna of British India birds”; an assortment of Casey A. Wood’s research notes; annotated proofs, galley proofs, and a mock-up of Richard C. McGregor and Elizabeth J. Marshall’s “Philippine birds for boys and girls;” and a binder of ornithological notes recorded by G.G. Ommanney and others in the Whitlock Bird Sanctuary and surrounding district near Hudson, Quebec.

Many of the manuscripts in the collection were published by the Philippine Journal of Science; also included is correspondence related to publication in the journal, especially related to editing and corrections.

The collection contains 164 botanical and zoological paintings created chiefly by Elizabeth Gwillim as well as possibly by her sister Mary Symonds while living in Chennai, India (then Madras). The collection includes 121 watercolours of birds with inscriptions, 31 watercolours of fish, and twelve of flowers, drawn from life rather than specimens. The paintings reflect the sisters' time in Madras during which, as artists and letter writers, they created a substantial visual record of the landscape and inhabitants of Madras and environs. The paintings also reflect Gwillim's scientific pursuits, including her study of botany.