A Treasure Trove of Canadian Literary History: The Newton MacTavish Collection
Tucked away in the manuscript collections of the Toronto Reference Library Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre is a treasure trove of letters and manuscripts written by Canada's literary "in crowd" of the early 20th century. There are files of hand-written correspondence, poems and short stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Mazo de la Roche, Marjorie Pickthall, E.J. Pratt, Archibald Lampman, Isabel Ecclestone Mackay, Stephen Leacock and dozens more.
The collection came from Newton McFaul MacTavish (1875-1941) who was a major supporter of the Canadian art and literature scene. He began his literary life in 1898 as a journalist with the Toronto Globe and then became editor of the Canadian Magazine from 1906-1926. It was the premiere monthly literary journal of Canada for more than three decades. MacTavish was also one of the founders of the Arts and Letters Club, active in the Canadian Authors' Association, Canadian Art Club and a Trustee of the National Gallery of Canada. Needless to say he fostered many careers during this time and had connections with writers and journalists across the country.
The collection contains several manuscripts and letters of the Confederation Poets, one of whom was Archibald Lampman. He is regarded as Canada's finest 19th-century English language poet. Born in 1861, he sadly died at the young age of 37. His poem New Year's Eve, pictured below, was written in 1896.
Included in the collection is a photo of two other Confederation Poets, Charles G. D. Roberts and Bliss Carman. Carman is on the right displaying his very distinctive hair cut.
Long before the 1908 publication of her incredibly successful novel Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery was writing short stories and poems. Many were published in the Canadian Magazine. In a January 1899 letter to Newton MacTavish, in which she offers her short story Kismet for publication, she describes herself as a "PEI 'school-marm', and earn, if not my bread at least the butter for that highly necessary article by my knack of scribbling."
The humorist and essayist Stephen Leacock is most well known for his classic Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town in which he introduced an endearing assortment of characters in the fictional small town of Mariposa. Leacock corresponded with MacTavish on several topics and his work appeared regularly in the Canadian Magazine. I love the 1906 postcard simply addressed to "Newton MacTavish Esq. Editor. Canadian Magazine, Toronto". No street or postal code required!
The collection also contains a file folder of autographs including Mazo de la Roche's, the author of the popular Jalna series, a saga of sixteen novels about the Whiteoak family.
I was excited to find several letters and and the manuscript of a short story by Marjorie Pickthall. She was a much-lauded Toronto poet and librarian and one of the few women of her time to make her living from writing. I have a special fondness for her as I discovered she was a dear friend to one of my relatives. I wrote about her in a blog entitled Poet From My Past.
How wonderful to see her neatly handwritten manuscript of the short story "The Twa Macs", which she submitted to Newton MacTavish. Below is the first page of the story as it appeared in the December 1910 issue of the Canadian Magazine.
In early 1910 Pickthall's beloved mother died and several of the letters in the collection are written on black-edged paper known as mourning stationery.
Pickthall was a smart business woman and understood the value of her own work. In one letter she asks MacTavish to return a poem knowing she can get more money for it in any number of American and Canadian literary magazines. Pickthall wrote, "I acceded to your unusually low terms because I like to see my verse occasionally in a Canadian publication".
Pickthall was good friends with the poet and novelist Isabel Ecclestone Mackay and the MacTavish collection contains several letters and photos of Mackay. They include a photo of Mackay taken in her office at her home in Woodstock, Ontario and another with two of her daughters in Stanley Park, Vancouver.
Also included in the collection is a beautiful, hand-printed Christmas card sent to the MacTavish family by Mackay.
Several items from the poet E. J. (Ned) Pratt are included in the collection as well. Pratt first made an impression with his 1923 book Newfoundland Verse and went on to establish himself as the foremost Canadian poet of the first half of the century. He taught English at Victoria College, University of Toronto for more than thirty years and in fact the library is named for him. Below is a menu from a 1930 dinner celebrating the publication of his book The Roosevelt and the Antinoe. It cleverly contains lines of poetry from the book under the menu options. My favourite is the pudding "full of dark conjecture"!
I hope this blog has given you a sampling of the Canadian literary treasures available in the Newton MacTavish collection! A finding aid for the collection is digitized and you can browse it here.
I'm off to find out more about the talented and prolific writer, novelist and newspaper columnist Madge Macbeth. She starting writing to support her two young sons after being widowed in 1908. She wrote advertisements, brochures for Canadian Pacific Railway, short stories, interviews with Members of Parliament and articles on local history – "everything but hymns," as she once said.
42 thoughts on “A Treasure Trove of Canadian Literary History: The Newton MacTavish Collection”
Thanks for writing about this Fiona! A collection well worth a visit!
Thanks for writing about this Fiona! A collection well worth a visit!
Thanks for writing about this Fiona! A collection well worth a visit!
Wonderful blog Fiona! I look forward to exploring this collection.
Wonderful blog Fiona! I look forward to exploring this collection.
Wonderful blog Fiona! I look forward to exploring this collection.
Great piece Fiona! Mourning stationary – truly it was another era…
Great piece Fiona! Mourning stationary – truly it was another era…
Great piece Fiona! Mourning stationary – truly it was another era…
Wow! Fascinating.
Wow! Fascinating.
Wow! Fascinating.
Great job Fiona! I know how hard you worked on this. Very interesting!
Great job Fiona! I know how hard you worked on this. Very interesting!
Great job Fiona! I know how hard you worked on this. Very interesting!
Thank you Fiona for sharing this treasure with us.
Excellent!
Thank you Fiona for sharing this treasure with us.
Excellent!
Thank you Fiona for sharing this treasure with us.
Excellent!
“Vital, sound and steady” – I really enjoyed the photographs and documentation!
“Vital, sound and steady” – I really enjoyed the photographs and documentation!
“Vital, sound and steady” – I really enjoyed the photographs and documentation!
Thanks for shedding light on this amazing collection in such an interesting way, especially for pointing out Bliss Carman’s amazing hairdo.
Thanks for shedding light on this amazing collection in such an interesting way, especially for pointing out Bliss Carman’s amazing hairdo.
Thanks for shedding light on this amazing collection in such an interesting way, especially for pointing out Bliss Carman’s amazing hairdo.
Thank you Fiona for writing this meaningful blog post.
Thank you Fiona for writing this meaningful blog post.
Thank you Fiona for writing this meaningful blog post.
What a nice job you did on this Fiona. It is an interesting read and visually appealing. Your selection of excerpts from Canada’s literary luminaries from the 1920s is interesting. Particularly the piece by LMMontgomery when she was starting out.
Thank you for this and keep up the good work you, literary sleuth you!
What a nice job you did on this Fiona. It is an interesting read and visually appealing. Your selection of excerpts from Canada’s literary luminaries from the 1920s is interesting. Particularly the piece by LMMontgomery when she was starting out.
Thank you for this and keep up the good work you, literary sleuth you!
What a nice job you did on this Fiona. It is an interesting read and visually appealing. Your selection of excerpts from Canada’s literary luminaries from the 1920s is interesting. Particularly the piece by LMMontgomery when she was starting out.
Thank you for this and keep up the good work you, literary sleuth you!
Great work Fiona! This will no doubt inspire others now to look at the McTavish papers. Thank you
Great work Fiona! This will no doubt inspire others now to look at the McTavish papers. Thank you
Great work Fiona! This will no doubt inspire others now to look at the McTavish papers. Thank you
Fascinating Fiona–all those treasures. I love that Pratt menu–no current social media marketing beats that, especially “The wind was westerly” under beans! Double entrendre or what?
Fascinating Fiona–all those treasures. I love that Pratt menu–no current social media marketing beats that, especially “The wind was westerly” under beans! Double entrendre or what?
Fascinating Fiona–all those treasures. I love that Pratt menu–no current social media marketing beats that, especially “The wind was westerly” under beans! Double entrendre or what?
What an interesting write-up of a significant and diverse literary collection! I love your selection of visuals too! Great job Fiona!
What an interesting write-up of a significant and diverse literary collection! I love your selection of visuals too! Great job Fiona!
What an interesting write-up of a significant and diverse literary collection! I love your selection of visuals too! Great job Fiona!
Thank you for such a wonderful blog, Fiona! These Canadian letters, photos and more in the Newton MacTavish Collection would make a wonderful book. I enjoy reading old menus, too, but the one here for E.J. Pratt really takes the cake (or rather, the petit fours!).
Thank you for such a wonderful blog, Fiona! These Canadian letters, photos and more in the Newton MacTavish Collection would make a wonderful book. I enjoy reading old menus, too, but the one here for E.J. Pratt really takes the cake (or rather, the petit fours!).
Thank you for such a wonderful blog, Fiona! These Canadian letters, photos and more in the Newton MacTavish Collection would make a wonderful book. I enjoy reading old menus, too, but the one here for E.J. Pratt really takes the cake (or rather, the petit fours!).