Archival Collections Finding Aids

The Library houses over 750 manuscript collections covering a wide range of subject areas. Holdings range from a collection of about 40 third-century B.C. Egyptian papyri to papers of the co-discoverers of insulin: Banting, Best, Collip and Macleod; and finally to drafts, research notes, and correspondence of Canadian authors such as Margaret Atwood, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Leonard Cohen, Mazo de la Roche and Josef Skvorecky. The majority of our manuscript collections date from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries and pertain to Canadian historical, literary, artistic or scientific fields. Collections of personal papers are listed by the surname of the creator or collector, e.g. Birney, Earle. Institutional records are listed under the name of the institution, e.g. Royal Canadian Institute. Collection level records for many of the manuscript collections appear in the on-line catalogue, along with links to finding aids in pdf format.
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  • Collection of 100 photographs of medicinal and economic plants, 1898.

  • Manuscript drafts of noted economist's academic papers and books, correspondence with other leading economists, scrapbooks.

    Papers, 1958-2013. 72 boxes.

  • Includes extensive correspondence from writers, 1960s-2000s, to Arlene Lampert. Frequent correspondents include Bill Bissett, Susan Musgrave, Stephen Reid, Joe Rosenblatt, Jeni Couzyn, Rosemary Sullivan, Anne Michaels, Patrick Lane, Lorna Crozier, Alice Denham, P.K. Page, Earle Birney and Wailan Low, Phyllis Webb and others.

    Papers, [1960s-2000s]. 14 boxes.

  • Research notes and drafts for published writings on silver, correspondence, photographs.

    Papers, 1914-1981. 62 boxes and items.

  • Collection of Terry Shortt papers, including notes on his field sketches and trip to Madagascar. Shortt was an ornithological artist and author, and chief artist at the Royal Ontario Museum.

    Papers, 1977-1978. 1 box.

  • Collection from the New York-based pharmaceutical firm, consisting of orders received from Canadian firms and individuals.

    Records, 1850-1880. 1 box.

  • Typescripts of articles on insulin, nervous irritability and other medical subjects.

    Papers, 1922-1950. 1 box.

  • Drafts of Lavell's A History of the Ontario Hospitals for the Insane and Feeble-Minded.

    Papers, [193-?]. 2 boxes.

  • Research notes and manuscripts about American and English actors and theatrical companies that toured Canada, especially before 1939, correspondence and photographs.

    Papers, ca 1870s-1988. 50 boxes and items.

  • Drafts of poems and workbooks .

    Papers, 1973-1984. 1 box.

  • Correspondence between Stephen Leacock and Joseph Easton McDougall.

    Papers, 1928-62. 1 box.

  • Minutes, membership records and correspondence; letters dealing with the Canadian forum while it operated under the auspices of the League.

    Records, 1933-1940. 3 boxes.

  • Correspondence, editing files, notes and drafts for writings, family papers.

    Papers, 1948-ongoing. 576 boxes.

  • Correspondence, lecture and research notes concerning Leo's research on Dante, Tasso and Petrarch.

    Papers, ca. 1948-1959. 1 box.

  • Research notes on the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects for which LePan was secretary and director of research, notes and drafts for literary writings, correspondence; diaries, journals, photographs.

    Papers, 1914-1998. 168 boxes.

  • Primarily financial statements, correspondence and legal transactions related to the operations of the publishing house Lester and Orpen Dennys during the 1980s.

    Papers, [198-]-[9-]. 1 box.

  • Collection documents Levine’s writing process for several publications, poems, and short stories. Also contains correspondence, educational records, promotional materials, teaching materials, and familial records.

    Papers, 1955-2019. 41 boxes.

  • Minutes of the club, correspondence of various members with Norma Lynes and excerpts from a volume of the reminiscenes of Henry N. Noyes.

    Records, 1930-1934, 1984. 1 box.

  • Correspondence, notes and manuscripts, clippings.

    Papers, 1923-1997. 9 boxes.

  • Typescript of her unpublished novel, The Moon and the Morning Star.

    Papers, 1953. 1 box.

  • Official correspondence and personal letters of Otto Meissner, head of the Office of the German Reich President during the entire period of the Weimar Republic under Friedrich Ebert and Paul von Hindenburg and at the beginning of the Nazi era under Adolf Hitler.

    Papers, 1939-42. 2 boxes.

  • Correspondence, minute books, administrative records, legal documents, photographs, scrapbooks, printed materials. Includes People for Sunday Association of Canada records, 1982-1994.

    Records, 1888-1994. 278 boxes and items.

  • Scripts, music and film of productions by Lund, primarily at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island, the Stratford Festival and the Canadian National Exhibition.

    Papers. 7 boxes and items.