Library Collections

Blackader-Lauterman Collection

The Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art originated in the 1920s with an endowment from the family of Gordon Home Blackader, a graduate of the McGill School of Architecture who died during World War I. The family of Montreal sculptor Dinah Lauterman also contributed to the library with an endowment in 1947. The library serves the Department of Art History and Communication Studies, and the Schools of Architecture and Urban Planning.

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Blacker-Wood Collections

The Blacker Wood Natural History Collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of natural history works in North America. The collection consists of rare books, manuscripts, archival material, and original artwork relating to vertebrate zoology, in particular ornithology, with significant materials in mammalogy, ichthyology, and comparative anatomy. In addition, the collection holds important works in the history and philosophy of natural history, evolution, botany, zoogeography, and the records of scientific expeditions.

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Edward Rosenthall Mathematics and Statistics Library

The Mathematics and Statistics special library holds the university’s collection of over 14,000 mathematics journals dating from the 19th century, with more than 10,000 monographs, as well as donations and other acquisitions. The library was established in 1971, and named for the late Professor and Chairman, Edward Rosenthall. The library also houses some rare books in mathematics brought to the library by Prof. N. Kamran.

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Government Information Service Collections

The historical strength of the Government Documents collection is considerable. Established in 1962, the collection is multi-disciplinary, and supports a wide variety of research and teaching programs with monographs, serials, microforms and access to electronic databases. The Department is a depository library for the Canadian government, the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, and the European Union. The collection comprises more than 150 years of British government publications in particular, as well as historical material from the United Nations and other international organizations. Some highlights include 16th century Journals of the House of Lords; and U.S. Congressional records from the 1800s.

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Islamic Studies Library Collection

The Islamic Studies Library was founded, along with the Institute of Islamic Studies, by Prof. Wilfred Cantwell Smith in 1952. The Islamic Studies Library and the Institute have occupied several campus locations, but since 1983 have been situated in Morrice Hall, the former Presbyterian College of Montreal. This research library is intended to be of primary interest to post-graduate students and faculty.

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John Bland Canadian Architecture Collection

The Canadian Architecture Collection (CAC) was established in 1974 by Professor Emeritus John Bland, director of the McGill School of Architecture for 31 years. The origins of the collection can be traced to the measured drawings and photographs of Quebec buildings made by Ramsay Traquair during his tenure as the Macdonald Professor of Architecture, 1913-1939. In 1987, the collection was made accessible to students, researchers and architects.

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Mossman Collection

The Mossman Collection on the History of Science and of Ideas was initially the personal library of Drs. Donald and Dorothea Mossman. They donated the collection to McGill in 1974, and established an endowment fund to support its continued development. Dr. Donald Mossman was a research chemist and McGill alumnus, and was actively involved in the collection’s development. The Mossman Collection focuses on events in the 17th century onwards, and on inventions and topics such as the sociology of science.

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Nahum Gelber Law Library Collections

The Peter M. Laing Special Collections Room in the Nahum Gelber Law Library holds early Canadian, British and American titles; the John P. Humphrey United Nations Collection; as well as the Wainwright Special Collection of French Civil Law.

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Osler Library of the History of Medicine

The Osler Library was opened in 1929, ten years after the death of its principal benefactor, Sir William Osler (1849-1919). Osler was a prominent member of McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and pathologist at the Montreal General Hospital. His original bequest to McGill was a carefully assembled collection of 8,000 books, and it has been developed by purchase and by gift to now number over 80,000 books, serials and historical theses.

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Rare Books and Special Collections

McGill began acquiring antiquarian books and other special collections materials as early as the 1860s. Gifts and purchases over the years have formed the Rare Books and Special Collections Division’s present holdings of over 280,000 printed books, 12,000 prints, 6,000 maps, 1,000 manuscripts and 500 linear metres of archives and private papers. The collection focuses on the humanities and social sciences, particularly history, literature, the history of ideas, travel and exploration, and the history of the book.

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Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre

Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre was established in 1997 to incorporate map collections from McGill libraries and departments. It houses the university map collection, except rare maps, which are stored in the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences library. The GIC includes topographic and thematic maps; atlases; air photos; hydrographic charts; and a comprehensive library of electronic resources for map and geospatial data research.