“Collection or Obsession” Dr. Casey Wood and McGill’s Natural History and Medical Collections by Christopher Lyons

Casey Wood (1856 – 1942), a graduate of Bishop’s University Medical School, was an Ophthalmologist and Ornithologist. 

An avid collector of books and supporter of libraries, Dr. Wood - inspired by Sir William Osler (MDCM 1872) - donated Ophthalmological works to the McGill Medical and Osler Libraries.

His extensive collection of Ornithology and Natural History publications eventually led to the creation of McGill’s Blacker-Wood Library, a leading North American natural history collection. Its rare material is now located in McGill’s Rare Books and Special Collections. Items from Dr. Wood’s collections will be displayed at the meeting.

Christopher Lyons (BA’89, DipEd’94, MA’02, MLIS’04), Head Librarian, Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill Library, is a member of the Grolier Club and was previously McGill’s Osler Librarian. He has published extensively on Canadian book history.

Reception: 5:00
Presentation: 5:30
ALL ARE WELCOME

Colgate Room
Rare Books and Special Collections
3459 McTavish Street, 4th floor

One-Hundred and Eighty-Fifth Meeting of the James McGill Society
Maysie MacSporran Annual Lecture & Presidential Address

Born into an established Montreal family, Maysie MacSporran (1903-2000) was educated at McGill University. In 1930, assisted by a scholarship from the Women's Canadian Club of Montreal, she received an MA in History for her ground-breaking study of James McGill. For many years she taught at a local private school, Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s, eventually becoming its Head Mistress. A long-time member of the James McGill Society, attending its functions and asking pertinent questions well into her nineties, Miss MacSporran was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in 1993. In addition to establishing such things as a series of Fellowships in the Faculty of Medicine, her gifts to the University permitted the Society to institute, in 2001, the Maysie MacSporran Annual Lecture, thereby ensuring that her memory will continue into perpetuity. Maysie MacSporran was a well-known and respected figure, with a wide circle of friends, who will long be cherished for her forthright and friendly manner, and generosity of spirit.