{"id":86905,"date":"2023-07-19T14:28:17","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T18:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=86905"},"modified":"2023-07-19T14:28:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T18:28:17","slug":"niagara-couple-gifts-brock-rare-1900s-book-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2023\/07\/niagara-couple-gifts-brock-rare-1900s-book-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Niagara couple gifts Brock rare 1900s book collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media has enabled travellers to easily research destinations, review experiences and share photos, but a century ago, those who could afford to relied on books, paintings and illustrations for information.<\/p>\n

Now, thanks to a generous gift from Niagara-on-the-Lake residents David Murray and Elizabeth Surtees, Brock Library\u2019s Archives and Special Collections is home to the Twenty Shilling Series, a rare antiquarian book collection devoted to different places around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201c100 years ago, travel was becoming less strenuous and complicated, but was still very costly,\u201d says Murray. \u201cAt the time, each Twenty Shilling book cost about a week\u2019s pay for a London labourer. While expensive, for book subscribers, 20 shillings was still cheaper than making an actual trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sold to relatively affluent readers, the London, England-based publishing house Adam and Charles Black produced 92 volumes of these high-quality colour collectable picture books from 1901 to 1921.<\/p>\n

At the time, the English-only books were made with the most advanced technology \u2014 a newly invented three colour technique \u2014 in limited print runs of 1,000 to 3,000 copies per volume.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo pull together a complete collection of 92 books more than 100 years after publication is quite the accomplishment,\u201d says David Sharron, Head of Archives and Special Collections. \u201cWe are honoured to house this beautiful collection that will be an important resource for scholars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/a>

Select volumes of the Twenty Shilling Series are on display on the main floor of the Brock University Library until the end of August.<\/p><\/div>\n

Each book is comprised of decorative covers, gilt lettering and edges, and watercolour reproductions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese books are real treasures and may be the only complete set in Canada,\u201d says Murray, a retired labour arbitrator. \u201cIt took over 15 years to accumulate this collection and I trust Brock will preserve these beautiful books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray had already started the rare collection when he met Elizabeth Surtees in a Toronto bookstore. Each perusing the shelves to pass time, the pair bonded over their fondness of books, art and travel \u2014 mutual interests that would lead to marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach book is a memory of our own travels,\u201d says Murray. \u201cLiz and I often go to antiquarian bookshops and at least three big book fairs a year. We have a list and check off each book as we find it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some of these books were purchased during the couple’s distant travels, others were found closer to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember a few years ago we dropped into the Alphabet Bookshop in Port Colborne and the owner helped us find three books in this collection,\u201d says Surtees.<\/p>\n

The series focuses each book on a specific region and includes geographical and topographical information and the writer\u2019s observations and experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile reading these books, sometimes you come across a place you have been to, and it is interesting to see what it looked like in 1910,\u201d says Murray.<\/p>\n

Valuing post-secondary education, Murray and Surtees are longtime supporters of Brock who have created two graduate student awards.<\/p>\n

The David C. Murray and Elizabeth Surtees\/Niagara Historical Society Scholarship in the History of Niagara is awarded annually to a master’s student in History who is carrying out research on a local history subject.<\/p>\n

The David C. Murray Scholarship in Political Science is received annually by a Master of Arts in Political Science student who is planning to specialize in law, human resources and dispute resolution including labour arbitration.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit Brock Library’s Archives and Special Collections web page<\/a> or the Development and Donor Relations web page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social media has enabled travellers to easily research destinations, review experiences and share photos, but a century ago, those who could afford to relied on books, paintings and illustrations for information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":86913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,7484,1],"tags":[6318,5682,2701,703,12799,3059,1209,12800],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86914,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86905\/revisions\/86914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}