Blog Archives

McGill Libraries Uncovers Royal Bible Formerly Owned by King Charles I

The Cataloguing Team is part of McGill Libraries’ Collection Services and they process thousands of items each year, enhancing the searchability of the library materials. These materials include new acquisitions, as well as backlog collections. One backlog collection is the …

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Apple Season in Saguenay

Saguenay Cook Book

Apple season is here! Try your hand at making a scrumptious Apple Dumpling or a custard! You’ll give yourself a chance to time-travel back to 1944. This recipe comes Mrs. Finley McLeod from the Saguenay Cook Book, published by the …

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Something to Write Home About

Close up of student on top of collage featuring student on top of Eiffel Tower Old McGill Yearbook page from 1931/

Meet “Orvil,” a wide-eyed McGill freshman of 1930 whose letters home published in the 1931 Old McGill Yearbook are equal parts endearing, funny, and just a little bit cheeky. From missing the pigs back on the farm to navigating poetry …

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The Journey of the Jingjiao Stele: From Tang China to Montreal

By Sophie Becquet, McGill Visual Arts Collection Student Intern (2024-) The Jingjiao (景教) Stele, or Xi’an Nestorian Stele, holds far more than meets the eye, bridging East and West through its cultural and religious significance and its extraordinary journeys across …

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McGill Lends Medieval Treasures to Pointe-à-Callière’s Chevaliers/Knights Exhibit

The two leaves on display as part of the Knights exhibition at Pointe-à-Callière Museum.

La version française suit. McGill Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections is proud to contribute to Pointe-à-Callière Museum’s latest exhibition, Chevaliers/Knights, currently on view in the Old Port of Montreal until October 19, 2025. Two exquisite 15th-century manuscript leaves from …

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Warden and Witness: 118 years of the ‘Our Lady of the Snows’ banner at McGill

By Katelyn Jones, PhD Candidate, Art History, Max Stern Fellow, McGill Visual Arts Collection (2025-) A magnificent, embroidered banner titled Our Lady of the Snows hangs inconspicuously in the discrete location of the Royal Victoria College Residence Hall nicknamed the …

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Colour McGill!

Part of the Pencil and Ink Sketch of Nobbs' Birds' Eye View of McGill, 1925.

La version française suit. Stuck inside on a rainy day? Looking for a simple way to recharge and unwind? Download our free colouring sheet based on a preparatory pencil-and-ink sketch by Percy Erskine Nobbs—architect, artist, and longtime McGill professor. Nobbs’s …

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Summer Book Bingo at McGill Libraries!

Book Bingo cards in English and French on summer background.

La version française suit. Looking for a fun way to tackle your summer reading list? Try your hand at the McGill Libraries’ Summer Book Bingo! Whether you’re a student, staff, or faculty member, this is your chance to explore new …

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Personal and Colourful

By Angela Mortimer, Master of Information Studies (MISt) student at McGill University. Angela is passionate about material culture, public libraries, and social history, and getting people interested in the same.    While working at Rare Books and Special Collections, I …

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The Lande Legacy and the Art of Building Rare Book Collections

Receipt for bags of potatoes, Abraham Pastorius, Montreal, 1802. Lande John Law Collection. Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University Libraries.

La version française suit By: Chris Lyons, Senior Curator, Rare Books & Special Collections (retired) Rare books libraries collect collectors. At first this might sound like a mercenary or macabre way to describe the work of the earnest curators responsible …

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