Blog Archives

The “Flying Wonder” of Victorian Paper Toys

By Dr. Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, Penn State College of Education & Jacquelyn Sundberg, Outreach Librarian, McGill Lire la version française The “Flying Wonder” lives up to its name; this is a vibrant set of Victorian-era paper toys, animated with moveable flaps …

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Octavo, Quarto, and Folio! Oh my!

books of various sizes

Lire la version française By Jacquelyn Sundberg, Outreach Librarian, and Ann Marie Holland, Curator, William Colgate History of Printing Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections. If you are new to the world of rare books, you might wonder what these …

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A New (Old) Game of Solitaire

Dick's game of Patience

I would guess that most of us know how to play at least one form of solitaire. For owners of a Windows computer, the classic Free Solitaire game has been built into the operating system since 1990. It was included …

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A Journey Through Time With “Caption This”

In the beginning of 2022, ROAAr’s newsletter inaugurated an engaging series: “Caption This” through which we put intriguing images from our archives to good use by inviting users to caption them. After a two-year successful run, the series concluded in …

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Black History Month at McGill Libraries

Book Cover for The Long Road Home

Black History Month (BHM) at McGill “aims to celebrate and centre Blackness throughout the history, the present, and the future of McGill and beyond.” The 2024 installment is coordinated by the Equity Team within the Office of the Provost and …

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Who were the first female detectives in Britain?

Tazreen Jahan Bari, one of the curators of the Library’s current Exhibition, Detecting the Anxious Gaze; The Victorian World in Flux Who came first? The fictional female detective or the real one? For detective story readers, it’s not unusual to …

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Conversation with the Curator; Charlotte Frank

moonstone film poster

Q and A with Charlotte Frank, one of the curators of the Library’s current Exhibition, Detecting the Anxious Gaze; The Victorian World in Flux Why did you choose to exhibit the film poster for and film stills from the 1934 …

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The Presence of a Great Writer

Château de Ferney

During his lifetime, Voltaire was a prolific and well-connected correspondent. A selection of his letters now resides at McGill in the Jacqueline Lambert-David Collection. Read more about this extraordinary collection.

Spotlight on Roy States

Roy States in his office

Roy States wore many hats – an activist, a historian, a soldier, and a collector of books. His trailblazing began long before he walked McGill’s halls, and his legacy continues to inspire students through his collection on Black Canadian History. Read more in this new biographical sketch.

Illustration Methods; Curator Comments from Detecting an Anxious Gaze

Get a peek behind the scenes with a series of posts from the curators of the Exhibition: “Detecting And Anxious Gaze; The Victorian World in Flux”

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

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