Our Collections

Our collection areas

Archival & Special Collections consist of eight collection areas, as outlined below. Researchers can browse our archival holdings in our Archives Database. Rare books, monographs, and other published materials can be found in the library’s online catalogue, Omni. 

Agricultural History and Rural Heritage

Archival & Special Collections contains a rich collection of materials related to agricultural history and rural heritage reflecting the roots of the University of Guelph. These collections are diverse, and range from large corporate fonds to small, personal collections. Notable acquisitions include the Burton Noble Gates collection for its focus on the science of apiculture, as well as the Massey-Harris-Ferguson and International Harvesters records. Such materials document the history of agricultural development in Ontario and abroad, information crucial to understanding changes in rural farming and communities over time. Contents include farm business papers, equipment and sales brochures, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, and diaries. Rural and agricultural periodicals are also available.

Centre for Canadian Landscape Architecture Archives

Archival & Special Collections houses a wide range of design records in support of the Centre for Canadian Landscape Architecture Archives project founded in 1998 to provide the profession with access to historical resources, ideas, and information not available from any other source. Records from large firms and individual practitioners are included showcasing the vital contributions Canadian landscape architects and planners have made to the design world since the turn of the twentieth century. Among the highlights are donations from the Dunington-Grubbs and Stenssons, Lois Lister, George Tanaka, Frances McLeod Blue, Project Planning and Associates Ltd., and DTAH, as well as records for the famed golf course architect Stanley Thompson. Contents include personal papers, office records, project files, drawings, photographs, glass slides, and watercolour renderings. Rare books on landscape gardening before 1900, including works by the English landscape designer Humphry Repton and prints of projects by Frederick Law Olmsted, can be located through the library’s online catalogue, Omni.

Culinary History

Archival & Special Collections maintains a variety of manuscript and archival resources to complement its extensive cookbook collection – one of the largest of its kind in North America. Records related to notable Canadian cookbook authors, food columnists, and collectors feature heavily with donations from Una Abrahamson, Jean Pare, Edna Staebler, Anita Stewart, and culinary artist Nick Schweizer. Contents include manuscript materials, correspondence, photographs, clippings, and sculptures. Titles from the cookbook collection can found through the library’s online catalogue, Omni.

L.M. Montgomery  

Archival & Special Collections is an essential repository for the study of the Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Collecting in this area began in the 1980s with the purchase of Montgomery’s journals and scrapbooks from her son and literary executor, Dr. E. Stuart Montgomery. Today, Archival & Special Collections maintains the author’s personal records as part of the L.M. Montgomery fonds as well as Montgomery-themed materials in the L.M. Montgomery collection. Records pertaining to Montgomery’s sons, Stuart and Chester Montgomery, and her biographer Mary H. Rubio are also included. Contents consist of first and significant editions of Montgomery’s works, her personal papers, private photographs, personal library, scrapbooks, and various discrete items owned or made by the author.

L.W. Conolly Theatre Archives  

Archival & Special Collections houses the L.W. Conolly Theatre Archives, a repository of collections from professional theatre companies based in Ontario, including the Shaw Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Grand Theatre in London. Smaller thematic and activist-oriented companies such as Black Theatre Canada, Factory Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, and Theatre Passe Muraille, are also heavily represented, as too are the personal and professional papers of individual actors, playwrights, costume designers, set designers, and lighting specialists. Contents include administrative files, audio-visual material, costume designs, house programs, performance files, photographs, posters, promotional material, scripts, and technical drawings.

Rare Books  

Archival & Special Collections is home to more than 25,000  rare books, monographs, and other published materials that range from the 16th to the 21st century. Many of these books are notable for the significance of their subject matter, scarcity, age, physical characteristics, or provenance.  Although age is not necessarily a determining factor, most of our rare books were printed before 1850, with Canadian imprints usually extended to 1900. Notable rare books span collecting areas such as agricultural history, veterinary medicine, apiculture, as well as Scottish topics related to John Galt, Scottish emigration, chapbooks, Jacobites, religion and the Foulis Press. The rare book collection can be found through the library’s online catalogue, Omni.

Regional and Early Campus History

Archival & Special Collections maintains records related to the University of Guelph’s founding colleges: Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), and the MacDonald Institute. While there is no official institutional university archive for the period after 1964, resources pertaining to the University of Guelph proper have also been collected over the years. Complementing these institutional records are a variety of private papers and business records relating to the university, the city of Guelph, and the broader history of the region. Among them: Adelaide Hoodless, the Sleeman family, Edward Johnson, the Canada Company, and others. Contents include administrative files, correspondence, clippings, diaries, photographs, and ephemera.

Scottish Studies

Archival & Special Collections is home to one of the largest collections of Scottish archival resources in the world outside of the United Kingdom. Topics vary by collection, ranging from Scottish emigration, the Great Disruption, the Jacobite rebellions, rural and agricultural studies, tourism, and clan histories. The earliest items in Archival & Special Collections are Campbell of Monzie land charters dated forward from the ca. 1330s. Contents include manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, pamphlets, and burgh records. Published materials such as chapbooks, historical atlases, and printed ephemera can be found through the library’s online catalogue, Omni.