Blog Archives

A Taste of Summers Past

June 16th, ROAAr Book Club – Try your hand at the recipes in this summer menu. Sample this selection – sourced from the Rare and Special Collections at McGill and beyond – and curated to give you some delicious options …

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A Giant Medieval Puzzle

The Rare Books and Special Collections of the McGill Library houses about 250 medieval manuscripts in Latin and/or in European vernacular languages. While we do boast about a number of bound, spectacular exemplars of prayer books, choir books, and philosophical …

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Cast on Something New

  Manuscript Cowl, Pattern by Kristen Howard, and the illuminated Manuscript initial that inspired it. This week we had a different kind of event at ROAAr: Rare Stitches: Knitting Inspired by Illuminated Manuscripts with Dr. Kristen Howard. Knitters and book …

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Art & Image: ongoing research in the Gwillim Project

The Gwillim Project centres around the lives of two English sisters in early 19th c. Madras (now Chennai): Elizabeth Gwillim (1763-1807) and Mary Symonds (b. 1772). Both sisters were avid artists and dedicated letter-writers; their paintings of flora, fauna, and …

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It’s Here! McGill Library Welcomes AMAZE; A McGill A to Z Experience

A is for anatomy, alphabet and AMAZE: A McGill A-Z Experience. In 2020, the McGill Library put together a truly remarkable book – AMAZE; a McGill A-Z Experience. With visual treats and moveable surprises at the turn of every page, …

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January Screenshare

Click here for instructions on how to download and set zoom and desktop backgrounds. For the type enthusiasts out there, this is a 20th century condensed gothic font. It is a sans-serif, upper and lower case font that includes numerals …

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What’s 150 years old, 11 feet long, and can get you from Grand Rapids to Quebec City in minutes?

Chisholm's all round route and panoramic guide of the St. Lawrence, 1870

C.R. Chisholm & Bros. was a Montreal-based publishing company that specialized in travel guide books as well as maps of Canada and the United States. Chisholm’s all round route panoramic guide of the St. Lawrence is a 150-year-old folded panoramic …

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Virtual Puzzles: Winter fun & a splash of colour to ring in 2021

Outdoor activities are front and center this holiday break. If you are looking for a fun way to stay warm after an afternoon of sledding or skiing, try your hand at solving these jigsaw puzzles featuring vintage images courtesy of …

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Trot away from 2020 with our DIY rare holiday phenakistoscope

This holiday season is unlike any other. As we move into a new (and hopefully better) year, the Library wishes you much peace, rest, and health coupled with lighthearted moments of reflection, joy, and discovery. Once again, we have remixed …

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Busy behind-the-scenes: McGill Library’s Digitization-on-Demand

ballerina string puppet on a green backdrop

By Greg Houston, Digitization & New Media Administrator and Elis Ing, Liaison Librarian, Rare Books and Special Collections Lire la version française While our doors may be closed, we are still hard at work. With such rich collections of unique …

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