Blog Archives

A Victorian-era funeral notice and the story behind it

Funeral notice featuring an illustration of a landscape with angels.

By Eden Autmezguine, 2nd year student, Faculty of Arts and Science and Student Project Assistant in Rare Books and Special Collections. Eden’s position is made possible thanks to funding from the SSMU Library Improvement Fund. Pictured above from the holdings …

A Victorian-era funeral notice and the story behind it Read More »

Caption This – Finders Keepers

girl holding a broken egg

Our thanks go to Richard Orlando, (McGill, MLS Class of 1979) for this month’s caption. This month’s post evoked some egg-cellent responses! There were so many in fact, that we ran a poll on our social accounts to choose the …

Caption This – Finders Keepers Read More »

Rebus Puzzles; A Second L👀k at Visual Riddles

Lire la version française by Jacquelyn Sundberg, Outreach and Special Projects, ROAAr, McGill Library Curiosity, As the 🌲🌲 t of all evils, 🐝ware oh  👩,  Of [temptation] the be🧙‍♀️ing  ch💪 Of curio🏢🏙️🌉🌇; Set 4 rebus cards. 1780. Rare Books and Special Collections, Sheila R. Bourke Collection …

Rebus Puzzles; A Second L👀k at Visual Riddles Read More »

Hiding in Plain Sight: Fore-Edge Painting in Rare Books and Special Collections

a fanned fore-edge painting held by two thumbs

Lire la version française By Christopher Lyons, Head Librarian, Rare Books and Special Collections I love attending antiquarian book fairs. There is nothing like seeing rare books in the flesh.1 Imagine my surprise when a book dealer picked up a …

Hiding in Plain Sight: Fore-Edge Painting in Rare Books and Special Collections Read More »

Caption This – Head in the Clouds

woman on a chairlift

By Labiba Faiza, ROAAr, McGill Library On the occasion of International Women’s Day last month, ROAAr shared this image of a woman bravely riding a chairlift at Mount Norquay as a prompt for its Caption-This series. Community members were invited …

Caption This – Head in the Clouds Read More »

Baking from Historical Recipes with a Grain of Salt

Mock Cherry Pie filling

By Kristen Howard This Pi(e) Day I had the great pleasure of participating in the Great Library Pie Bake-Off (GLPBO) using materials from McGill’s extensive Cookbook Collection. The GLPBO is an annual event coordinated by the Folger Shakespeare that invites …

Baking from Historical Recipes with a Grain of Salt Read More »

3.14159 Recipes for Apple Pie

mark's history of apple pie

By Jacquelyn Sundberg and Labiba Faiza, ROAAr McGill Library 3. 14. 2022 Happy Pie Day to you all on March 14th! While the day that claims the most digits of pi came and went on March 14th, 1592, we celebrate …

3.14159 Recipes for Apple Pie Read More »

Archival Collections Catalogue interface tweaked for increase ease of use

Zoomed in detail on wide tree view of new Archival Collections Catalogue interface.

by Anna Dysert, Associate Librarian, Archives and Manuscripts/Special Collections, Collection Services The McGill Library Archival Collections Catalogue has switched over to a more user-friendly interface to help users navigate archival descriptions. The fresh look will allow researchers to better visualize the relationships between records in a fonds or collection and move between record descriptions. …

Archival Collections Catalogue interface tweaked for increase ease of use Read More »

The Taylor White Project, 2018-2021

Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), water colour by Peter Paillou, undated. Taylor White Collection: MSG BW002, item 042. Blacker Wood Collection, Rare Books & Special Collections, McGill Library.

By Victoria Dickenson, Professor of Practice, McGill Library This project was funded by Insight Development Program at Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Overview The Taylor White Research Project focused on the documentation and analysis of a unique “paper …

The Taylor White Project, 2018-2021 Read More »

Birding Mount Royal, Yesterday and Today

Mount Royal Park is a green haven at the centre of Montreal. From the top, looking south over McGill University’s lower campus and the spread of the St. Lawrence River, you may be lucky enough to spot some of the …

Birding Mount Royal, Yesterday and Today Read More »

Library Matters seeks to exchange and encourage ideas, innovations and information from McGill Library staff for our on-campus readers and beyond.

Contact Us!

If you have any questions, comments, or even an idea for a story, let us know!