Leacock's papers comprise manuscripts of books, articles, and speeches written ca 1913-1937: included are Leacock's history of Montréal, and comic pieces such as "Too Much College", "The Stamp Album World", "Simple Stories of Success" and "Bed-Time, Stories for Grown-Up People". Correspondence covers the period ca 1915-1944. There are also newspaper articles by and about Leacock; book orders and related correspondence; manuscripts of articles and speeches about Leacock; and correspondence concerning donations to the Leacock Collection (Approximately 1948-1960).
These consist of manuscripts of various Goldbloom's writings on paediatrics as well as various articles and speeches, 1929-1963, the manuscript of an unpublished short story titled "On a Monday Afternoon" and correspondence with Samuel Behrman, 1957-1965.
The fonds consist of copies of deeds, some of which concern the British-American Land Co., that were executed by Torrance for the period 1856 to 1861, and a notebook of opinions on Québec legal questions, including copies of letters from the firm Torrance & Morris (1857-1859).
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 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.
Fonds consists of contemporary manuscript copies of various legal records and instruments relating to the Capacci family. Includes one manuscript written on parchment in pale brown ink, ruled in pale brown ink, and bound in full contemporary blind tooled calf with laid paper endpapers and remnants of ties on covers, as well as a smaller booklet, written on parchment glued into a laid paper wrapper. Documents appear to be dated between 1556 and 1583 and are written in Latin and Italian (sometimes alternating within document). The legal instruments appear chiefly related to the dowry of Orietta Capacci (the dowry is also referenced in an Italian note in a later hand (1650?) inside front cover). Some names found throughout the documents include Orietta Capacci (or Orietta de Capacci) and Annibale (or Anibal) Camillo de Capacci.
Collection consists of 57 illustrations of birds, eggs, snakes, and plants by James Forbes chiefly to illustrate his work "Oriental Memoirs," published in four volumes between 1813 and 1815. The majority of the illustrations are either engraved or hand-drawn and then coloured, and have been cut out and mounted on paper. In many cases, a background has been drawn in and coloured or partially coloured. Approximately thirty of the images depict tropical birds, many from the Indian subcontinent, as well as some from Brazil and Australia. A number of these drawings also feature insects, particularly butterflies, and trees and flowers. Fifteen drawings depict bird eggs, including many of forest birds. The images generally contain captions by Forbes or a contemporary, identifying the subject of the drawing. Some birds are unidentified. Numerous drawings also contain species identifications or annotations in pencil by Henry Mousely, librarian of the Blacker Wood Library at McGill University during the 1920s and 1930s. These drawings are tentatively dated to approximately 1811. A note on one drawing indicates that it was originally based on drawings created during Forbes's voyages during the 1780s, then recopied in 1811. Items 44 through 57 depict snakes and reptiles and are tentatively dated to between approximately 1811 and 1818, based on a small number of drawings which are signed and dated. Many of these drawings of snakes and reptiles feature as plates in Patrick Russell's "A Continuation of an Account of Indian Serpents: Containing Descriptions and Figures, from Specimens and Drawings" (1801).
