History of the Book in Canada, Vol. 1: Beginnings to 1840

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

This book, the first of a three-part series by a team of literary
scholars, librarians, and historians from across Canada, focuses on the
role that print has played in the development of politics, religion,
economics, culture, education, and other facets of the Canadian nation.

The volume begins with a history of the book and printing in Canada,
starting with the establishment of the first printing office in 1751.
The balance of the book is divided into seven parts. Part 1 covers the
initial Aboriginal contacts, the documents explorers and missionaries
wrote about the New World, and the libraries the Jesuit order developed
in New France. Part 2 explores the business aspects of setting up
printing in Canada, while Part 3 discusses the circulation of books in
early Canada and the establishment of secular and religious libraries.
Part 4 looks at readers and collectors, and Part 5 considers specific
types of printed material. Part 6 examines censorship (both political
and religious) and the influence of certain official publications. Part
7 covers the literary realm and the various cultures that developed in
Canada from the 1700s to the mid-1800s.

The essays are short, easy to read, and well documented. This
meticulously researched and attractively designed book is a must-have
for anyone who is interested in Canada’s development as a nation.