Contexts for Reading the Reader: Why the Library of a Mid-Twentieth-Century Brantford Lady is Important

• In-person event
• Book Arts Lab, MacOdrum Library, Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6

• Contact
• Erin Pickering, Erin.Pickering@carleton.ca, 613-520-2600 x7084

In the mid-twentieth century in a modest house on a modest street in Brantford, Ontario, a lady of modest means accumulated a library of over 1,700 books. When she died in 1972, her nephew, who inherited this library, boxed the volumes in no particular order. Although more than half have disappeared, the remaining ones have now arrived at Carleton, donated by Professor Emerita Mary Jane Edwards. While Dr. Edwards reorganized this library, she became impressed with not only what it revealed about her areas of specialization, but also what it might reveal about such subjects as Canadian culture, Ontario history, and the shaping of images of women. The importance of this library is the subject of this talk.

Mary Jane Edwards, Professor Emerita, holds the rank of Distinguished Research Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. A specialist in Canadian Literature, she was the General Editor of the series of fourteen scholarly editions produced by the Centre for Editing Early Canadian Texts (CEECT) at Carleton, for which she edited the first and last works. In addition, she has honed her editorial skills as the editor or general editor of five anthologies of Canadian literature and as the editor from 1998 to 2002 of English Studies in Canada, the journal of the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English.

**This event is offered both in person and online via Zoom. Please contact Erin Pickering at Erin.Pickering@carleton.ca for the Zoom link.