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CONTENTS |
Introduction |
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Special Collections Division |
In the summer of 1958, the Friends of the Library, just in its second year of operation, made it possible for the University of British Columbia Library to purchase a collection which would advance its historical holdings by leaps and bounds. The Thomas Murray Collection arrived in 400 cartons later that year consisting of thousands of volumes of Canadiana and an extraordinary collection of approximately 2000 nineteenth and early twentieth century textbooks which currently make up the majority of the textbook holdings in Special Collections. It contains many of the chief landmarks of Canadian history and publishing. Neal Harlow, Universtiy Librarian at the time, noted that this acquisition would give UBC one of the finest collections of Canadiana in the world. In fact, the acquisition provided the library with enough new material to be able to claim a very well-rounded Canadiana collection, which had previously only focused on Western Canadiana. The collection includes more than just published volumes. There are also a variety of pamphlets relating to such topics as the North-West Rebellions and travel in Canada, as well as eleven volumes of Canadian bookplates, collected and assembled by Thomas Murray himself. The Thomas Murray Collection increased the scope of the Library's collection from regional to national in an instant. It is easily the most important collection of pre-Confederation Canadiana in the University of British Columbia Library.
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