History of the Book in Canada, Vol. 2: 1840–1918

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Literary arts students and libraries will welcome this major
contribution to the reference resources available on publishing in
Canada.

The volume—the second in a proposed three-volume set—covers a
dynamic 78-year period that included the spread of settlement into
Western Canada, the strengthening of a local political voice in the
Maritimes and Quebec, changes in Aboriginal culture as it interacted
with European influences, the arrival of blacks from the United States,
and even a world war. Writing, printing, and publishing in all its many
forms flourished in Canada during this period, producing everything from
posters to textbooks, ledgers, catalogues, novels, advertisements,
scribblers, sheet music, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, cookbooks,
handbills, almanacs, religious works, travelogues, poetry, and more. For
this work “the book” is shorthand for any printed material.

The work is a collection of 68 essays, 17 case studies, a detailed
chronology, and approximately 70 black-and-white illustrations (photos,
charts, maps, archival documents), all united by some link to Canadian
“print culture” of the era. As well as specific types of publishing,
related topics include typesetting, binding, apprenticeships, the union
movement, retailing of print material, the employment of women and
children in the industry, libraries, book collecting, and literacy. The
70 authors are drawn mainly from academia and present impressive
research credentials. Their writing style is consistently clean but
flat, and amazingly uniform, given such a large number of contributors.
The index, cites, and sources are impeccable.