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Thomas Murray - Collector |
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Special Collections Division |
Thomas Murray was born in Toronto in 1878 and died in Montreal on October 5, 1955. Apprenticed as a tailor as early as 1890, he moved to Montreal around the turn of the century and continued working in the garment industry. He operated his own manufacturing business from 1918 to 1928, amassing a small fortune which permitted him to retire at the age of fifty and to devote the rest of his life to his first love: books.
It is supposed that
his interest in books was inspired by his older brother, but it is known
that he was a collector from an early age, and had assembled a considerable
library by the time he reached his teens. Upon closing his garment
business he established the Bleury Book Store, and later opened another
branch on St. Catherine Street. However, he was a collector first
and a bookseller second, though he was a shrewd businessman. His
personal collection continued to grow throughout his lifetime, even
after he closed his bookstores in 1949, yet he was never known to invite
visitors to view his collection. Despite his reputation for being
a man of few friends who kept his own counsel, he visited book collectors
of his acquaintance in later years, amazing them with his phenomenal
memory and minute knowledge of books. It is unlikely that anyone
knew the extent or nature of his own collection until after his death.
At that time it was discovered that in addition to the large collection
at his home, books were stored in several warehouses around Montreal.
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