The Special Collections Centre celebrates Christmases and New Years gone by, with an exhibit of seasonal ephemera. Highlights of the display are a greeting card from 1885 and a postcard from 1919. Here's a small taste of what is in the exhibit. The Library has historical collections of Christmas and […]
If you are interested in Women's history and / or the Victorian era, don't miss the upcoming Thought Exchange program "Celebrated and Notorious Women of the Victorian Era." The 19th century was populated by a bevy of beautiful, dangerous and courageous women. From the exploits of Lily Langtry and the treachery of Lizzie Borden to […]
The Toronto Reference Library houses the famous double-elephant folio edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, and a collection of water colours by William Pope. In the Special Collections Centre (4th floor), you will find other 19th century ornithology books with many beautiful coloured illustrations like the ones featured on this page. […]
The Toronto Reference Library is offering workshops on the use of electronic periodical publications, or as they are often referred to: "databases." What, you may ask, are "databases"? Put simply, these are publications grouped together by the thousands, under one title. Canadian Periodicals Index Quarterly, for example, is one, and a good source for Canadian […]
September 5th will be celebrated as Labour Day across Canada. To commemorate this national holiday, the Special Collections Centre has arranged an exhibit of photographs and printed ephemera related to Ontario's labour history. Here's a sampling from the exhibit which can be viewed on the 4th floor of the Toronto Reference Library until the end of […]
From A Study in Scarlet: "We met next day and inspected the rooms at 221b Baker Street….and at once entered into possession." Does The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes television series portray Sherlock's home as you would have imagined? If you're looking for an alternative view, visit these links to see artistic renderings of the […]
Interested in the game of cricket? This month's Curator's Choice demonstrates the popularity of this game in late 19th century Toronto. Photographs, programs, ribbons and other printed ephemera from Special Collections are currently being exhibited on the 4th floor of the Toronto Reference Library. Here's a preview of what you will find on display: […]
Kathleen A. Hicks' newly published series, Our Heritage, was mentioned in Cynthia's blog earlier this month. The series includes nine local histories of the communities that now form the City of Mississauga. Some of the research for these books was conducted at the Toronto Reference Library, in the Baldwin Room, Special Collections. This photograph of Hamilton's Store and Post […]
May 2nd, 2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorized King James Bible. Students and researchers of early Bible history are mindful of struggles with earlier Bible translations. A rare nineteenth century edition of The English Hexapla, allows readers to examine various translations side by side. This volume displays the original Greek […]
Special Collections celebrates Victoria Day by displaying some Victoriana from the Baldwin Room Collection. Here is one of the items currently on exhibit on the 4th floor of the Toronto Reference Library. The front cover of this Diamond Jubilee program shows Toronto school children paying homage to the Queen. Canadian symbols like the Union […]