Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2006 Issue
Canadiana and Other Curious Things from David Ewens
Self-proclaimed Nephew of God and Prince of the Hebrews Richard Brothers.
Item 34 is what Ewens describes as "the defining document of Canada." It is a first edition, first issue of the British North America Act, officially Great Britain. Laws, Statutes. Etc. This was the act which created the Dominion of Canada in 1867 by uniting Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Somewhat similar to their neighbor to the south, the Canadian government was given certain powers, and others were reserved for the individual provinces, but unlike their neighbors, Britain retained the right to veto changes to this constitution. However, Canadians now had their own constitution, and rights guaranteed by it. $1,500 (US $1,304).
Do you collect old Canadian newspapers? Here is a useful tool. It is The Canadian Newspaper Directory, showing where the various papers published in Canada are located, when they were formed, their circulation, and more data as of 1884. Item 123. $125 (US $108).
Item 31 is a document dated 1827 granting 200 acres in Ashford Township to Honore Fournier. It is signed by Joseph Bouchette, Deputy Surveyor General. Bouchette was an important writer of topographical works and a mapmaker in Lower Canada. There was a catch to this grant. Fournier was required to clear four acres and build a house within three years. We have no idea whether he met the terms. In fact, it is very hard to even find Ashford Township, but evidently it is in Quebec, in the area between the St. Lawrence River and the State of Maine. $250 (US $217).
Item 43 is what Ewens believes may be the first Canadian railway history. Published in 1864, it is A History of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada... Author Thomas Storrow Brown took part in the Rebellion of 1837, and left the country after it was unsuccessful. However, he returned during the amnesty of 1842 and began writing numerous historical works. This book describes the railway mania of the 1850s and 1860s, and the financing for them. $650 (US $565).
Here is an uncommon book about an unusual type of railroad. John Foster was an advocate of wooden railways at a time when most favored steel. I'm not sure why he preferred wooden rails, as one might think they would not stand up to long and heavy use that well, but he must have had his reasons. In 1870, he published Description of the Various Systems of Wooden Railways... Foster had advocated the building or a wooden railway from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement, which is out in Manitoba, a long way off (maybe 400 miles). It didn't happen, but the plans are still here for anyone who would like to try. Item 74. $250 (US $217).
You may reach David Ewens Bookseller, member of ABAC and ILAB, at 613-489-2222 or dewens@magma.ca. He is located in North Gower, Ontario, which is a bit south of Ottawa (or north of Ogdensburg, New York, for Americans).
