thomas fisher rare book library

thomas fisher rare book library

December 2013

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Thomas Fisher rare Book LiBrary

cONTeNTS

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................... 2

History ................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Present Needs ..................................................................................................................................................... 10

Our View for the Future of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library ......................................................................... 13

Ways of Supporting the Library ............................................................................................................................ 14

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 15

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execUTIve SUmmAryThe University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) has garnered the generous support of the University’s communities

and ranks among the top three academic research libraries in North America, following Harvard and Yale.

The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in UTL has attracted significant acclaim as Canada’s largest rare book

library. Uniquely positioned as a national resource, the Library welcomes the public and is vital for scholars of

many disciplines who seek the broadest and deepest collection of materials relevant to their research. It is now

essential that UTL secure resources to continue to build the legacy of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

for future generations of students and scholars.

Within the University’s Boundless Campaign, UTL will engage current and prospective donors in Canada

and around the world to assist us to maintain the stature and excellence of the Fisher Library. We will do this

through an intensive effort focused on major gifts to:

• Create a permanent endowed fund of $2 million for the position of Director of the Thomas Fisher

Rare Book Library

• Raise $2 million for collection development

• Establish a $4 million endowed fund for digitization and preservation

• Secure a $600,000 endowment for a Librarian Fellowship

The achievement of our goals will enable the Fisher Library to continue building its collections and services,

networking with our peer institutions around the globe and forging relationships with scholars, collectors,

book dealers and donors.

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INTrODUcTION A measure of a university’s stature is its library. To attract the best faculty, to be the top choice for the brightest

students, to be a foremost destination for visiting scholars and researchers, a university must be a progressive

steward of its libraries’ holdings, services and professional expertise. The University of Toronto Libraries has

garnered the generous support of the University’s communities and is now ranked among the top three research

academic libraries in North America, following Harvard and Yale. Our stature owes much to the Thomas Fisher

Rare Book Library, an iconic feature of the St. George Campus of the university, and the recipient of significant

acclaim over its more than fifty-year history.

As Canada’s largest rare book library, the Fisher Library houses books, manuscripts, digital special collections

and other materials covering a broad range of subjects. It is the home of the University of Toronto’s Department

of Rare Books and Special Collections as well as the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management

Services.

Manuscript Portolan atlas, produced in Venice, sixteenth century.

Annually, more than 13,000 students, visitors and scholars from around the world come to the Fisher Library

in person to research, study and attend lectures and exhibitions, and countless more visit us online. With the

knowledge that it holds a unique position nationally, the Library welcomes the public and is recognized for

its unique collections and the expertise of its professional staff. In many fields, the Fisher exists as a destination

for scholars requiring the broadest and deepest collection of materials relevant to their research interests.

Additionally, it is designated by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board to receive gifts of

certified cultural property.

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The Fisher Library’s special collections consist of approximately 725,000 volumes and 3,800 linear metres of

manuscript holdings, plus the holdings of the University of Toronto Archives. Our great strengths are in the

fields of British, European and Canadian literature, theology, philosophy, political science, Hebraica and Judaica,

and the history of science and medicine. Many of the Library’s holdings are organized within special named

author or subject collections, spanning diverse fields from AIDS to Yellowbacks.

Deepening the broad subject interests is the time span they represent — from the eighteenth century B.C.E. to

the twenty-first century of the Common Era. The most ancient ‘manuscript’ is a cuneiform tablet in the form

of a deed, dating to about 1789 B.C.E. Other notable holdings in our collections are a first folio of the works

of Shakespeare, proof sheets of three works by Charles Darwin, nineteenth-century toy theatres, and original

drafts of works by contemporary Canadian authors such as Margaret Atwood.

An early example of Margaret Atwood’s work and a watercolour from the Agnes Chamberlin Collection, which is also available online.

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mISSION Of The UNIverSITy Of TOrONTO LIbrArIeSThe Thomas Fisher Library makes a vital contribution to the mission of the University of Toronto Libraries:

To foster the search for knowledge and understanding in the University and the wider community. To this end, we shall provide innovative services and comprehensive access to information founded upon our developing resources as one of the leading research libraries in the world.

Librarian P.J. Carefoote describes items from the Fisher Library collections to a group of visitors.

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hISTOry The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections was founded in 1955 by the Chief Librarian, Robert

Blackburn, who appointed Marion Brown, a graduate of the University of Toronto and a special collections

librarian at Brown University. Her first responsibility was to assess the books and manuscripts that had

accumulated since 1890 in a room known as the Art Cupboard following the virtual destruction of the main

library by a fire which consumed University College.

The volumes in the Art Cupboard consisted primarily of a few medieval manuscripts, early printed books, and

special materials of later periods deemed valuable for specific reasons, such as the set of Pyne’s Royal Residences

(1829) that had been presented by Queen Victoria to the University following the fire. In response to a gift-in-

kind drive to replace holdings lost in the fire, the collections surpassed their previous stature and featured works

such as Piranesi’s Opera varie of 1750. The main library itself was the other obvious source for rare materials

since this was where the vast majority of purchased and donated books had been dispersed throughout the

classification system. The stacks yielded rich results and in 1957 a Rare Book Room was opened in a space

above the south end of the current Gerstein Science Information Centre, with accommodation for both books

and researchers.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and the University Archives were not adequately

housed until 1973 when the Thomas Fisher Rare Book library was opened in its current location. It is named

in honour of Thomas Fisher (1792–1874), who came from Yorkshire to Upper Canada in 1821 and settled by

the Humber River. There he operated a grist mill, and played an active role in the public life of the community.

In 1973 his great-grandsons, Sidney and Charles Fisher, donated to the Library their own collections of

Shakespeare, various twentieth century authors, and the etchings of the seventeenth century Bohemian artist,

Wenceslaus Hollar.

I have been a delighted reader of the rare books in the Thomas Fisher Library for

decades — indeed, I was already a user of Special Collections before the Robarts Library

was built. I first savored the abundant materials concerning sixteenth and seventeenth

century France, and then over the years expanded to books on the history of women,

the history of crime in early modern Europe, and more recently the interchange between

North Africa and Italy in the sixteenth century through the person and world of Leo

Africanus. And now I’m often seated in the reading room poring over geographical texts

that help me grasp Europe’s connections with colonial Suriname and its world of slavery.

A special joy is introducing graduate students in history to riches of the Thomas Fisher

Library, its books a direct connection with the persons of the past.

Professor Natalie Zemon Davis, historian

Title page of 1556 edition of Leo Africanus’s work on the geography of Africa

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A steady flow of gifts-in-kind has greatly enhanced the Fisher Library’s holdings since its formation. Some of

these have been acknowledged in a series of exhibitions: Gifts from our Friends 1990, A Pride of Gifts 1995, and

In Honour of our Friends (1999).

The gold tooling on the 1899 edition of W.B. Yeats’s The Secret Rose is one example of the many fine bindings in the Fisher Library collections.

The Prague missal, an early fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript.

The Fisher building is part of a complex with the John P. Robarts Research Library, and the Bissell building

which houses the University’s Faculty of Information. A noted example of Brutalism architecture, the facility

was designed by Mathers and Haldenby, Toronto with design consultant Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde, New

York.

meDIA cOverAge AND recOgNITION In addition to being a world-renowned centre for scholarship, the Fisher Library is a tourist destination

for members of the general public. The Library hosts hundreds of visitors each week, who are attracted to

exhibitions which feature continually changing aspects of the collections. For example, the exhibition on

the English Bible, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible in 2011,

received attention in local and national media. Many of the catalogues published to accompany the exhibitions

have been the recipients of the Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current

Exhibition Catalogue Awards. The Fisher Library has also made material available on loan to institutions such

as the New York Historical Society, the Grolier Club, and the Art Institute of Chicago as well as the Art Gallery

of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum.

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ServIceS PrOvIDeD by The ThOmAS fISher rAre bOOk LIbrAry• Exhibitions – three annually with an accompanying published catalogue

Top left: A visitor to the Fisher Library studies documents from Where Duty Leads: Canada and the First World War, a 2008 exhibition. Top right: Cover of catalogue for 2011 exhibition Great and Manifold: A Celebration of the Bible in English. Bottom left: Former Chief Librarian, Carole Moore, enjoys an animated discussion with Professor John Slater at an exhibition opening.

For scholars in the humanities the Fisher Library is the equivalent of a vast laboratory complex

for scientists. During a forty-year career at U of T I used the Fisher’s resources constantly, and

could not have done without it. The Fisher’s Banting and insulin collections formed the basis

of two of my most important books, written after months of practically living in its carrels. I

have had the good sense too to talk constantly with Fisher staff about my work and their help

was invaluable. Like so many Toronto scholars of my generation I have a particular debt of

gratitude to the leadership and good sense of Richard Landon, a great bookman and scholar.

Richard took the Fisher to a new plateau of excellence. I look forward to seeing his successor

meet the challenge of aspiring to even greater accomplishment for the Library, its staff, its

collections, and its patrons. It’s the heart and soul of the University of Toronto as I’ve known it.

Professor michael bliss, historian

C.H. Best and F.G. Banting on the roof of the old Medical Building with a diabetic dog being kept alive with injections of pancreatic extract.

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• Lectures – four annually on themes relating to the history and art of the book, libraries and collections

by internationally recognized experts in the field

Susan Whitfield delivers the annual Gryphon Lecture on the History of the Book in March 2008.Dorene Seltzer, who endowed the annual John Seltzer and Mark Seltzer Memorial Lecture, with 2011 speaker Katharine Kyes Leab.

• Reference services

o Personalized service by phone, email and in person

o Collaboration with faculty members and outside groups to prepare customized seminars

held in one of the Library’s seminar rooms

o Access to the collections in the supervised reading room with technical support and wireless

access

• Reproduction and Access

o Collections are open to local and international researchers as well as interested members of

the public

o Patrons may request material remotely using the Library’s on-line retrieval request form

o Overhead scanners are available on a self-serve basis for study and reproduction purposes

o Digitized content is freely accessible through the Library’s digital collections and social media

including Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfisherlibrary), Facebook, and YouTube

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LeADerShIPMembers of the Fisher library’s professional staff are recognized leaders in the field. They fill executive and

leadership roles in national and international organizations such as the Bibliographical Society of Canada, the

Association of Canadian Archivists, the English Short Title Catalogue, the Rare Books and Manuscripts section

of the American Library Association, and the International Federation of Library Associations.

Staff members also contribute to scholarship through their contributions to such wide-ranging scholarly

endeavours as the national book history projects for both Britain and Canada, and the Encyclopedia of the Bible

and its Reception. The published catalogues which accompany each of our exhibitions are scholarly resources in

their own right. Members of the Fisher Library staff are also heavily involved in teaching both graduate and

undergraduate courses.

Anne Dondertman leads the Fisher Library as

Associate Librarian for Special Collections and

the Director of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book

Library. Prior to her appointment in 2013, she

was Assistant Director of the Fisher Library

and head of the department of rare books

and special collections. Anne is past-President

of the Bibliographical Society of Canada,

has curated a number of exhibitions at the

Library, and has taken a leadership role in all

digitization projects since the first one which

launched in 2000. She has Expert Examiner

status with the Canadian Cultural Property

Export Review Board and has worked with

hundreds of donors to secure important

resources through gift-in-kind donations

to the Library. In addition to the librarians,

other members of the Library’s professional

staff have demonstrated expertise in rare

books and manuscripts, archives and records

management, conservation and preservation,

and are frequently called upon for advice

by members of the public and professional

colleagues.

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PreSeNT NeeDS As an integral part of the University of Toronto Libraries, the Fisher Library is the fortunate custodian of

outstanding research collections. As well, we have benefited from the extraordinary leadership of our librarians

and staff. We are particularly grateful to the countless donors and lovers of books who have recognized the

importance of extending their support through financial aid and gift-in-kind donations.

Nonetheless, the realities facing us now require us to step up our efforts to maintain the library’s standing. The

University as a whole faces financial pressure for the foreseeable future. Among other challenges, the effects

linger from the 2008 market losses. Additionally, the University’s per-student revenues are less than one-tenth

the average level of resources available to private research-intensive US institutions and well under one-half

the average level available to publicly-assisted research-intensive US universities. Of course this significantly

hampers our capacity to remain competitive and reduces the level of resources available to maintain, let alone

strengthen the libraries.

Without a concerted effort to secure new resources, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library will not be able

to maintain the momentum we have experienced in the past. A decline in the reputation of the Fisher — and

more broadly, the University of Toronto Libraries — would precipitate a loss of academic standing for the

University and we will become less competitive in the race to attract the brightest faculty and students. With

this in mind, we are seeking the participation of our many friends as we pursue the following key funding

initiatives.

A headpiece by Wenceslaus Hollar for Ogilby’s Africa, 1670.

The Fisher … is a cathedral to literature and to the glory of man’s struggle in the world of ideas.

You don’t have to be a student at the University of Toronto to visit the Fisher, and I cannot think of a more moving place in the country …

stuart mclean, author and host of CbC’s The Vinyl Café

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DIrecTOr Of The ThOmAS fISher rAre bOOk LIbrAry — $2 mILLION eNDOweD The endowment of the Director’s position will ensure that we continue to have the resources to attract an

acknowledged authority in the field of rare book librarianship, and further the significant accomplishments in

collection building achieved by the Library’s former Director, the late Richard Landon. As the Fisher Library’s

current Director, Anne Dondertman is continuing to build its collections and services, networking with our

peer institutions around the globe and forging relationships with collectors and donors.

PreServATION AND AcceSS — $4 mILLION eNDOweDThe Fisher Library is committed to providing increased access to our many and diverse collections, in particular

through the digitization of our specialized print and manuscript holdings. Preservation encompasses the

many tasks that must be undertaken to both preserve and catalogue our growing collections and make them

accessible to scholars in person and on the internet. Funding constraints have meant that a significant part

of our collections are largely inaccessible. An enhanced endowed fund will give us capacity to generate a

dependable level of support to improve the accessibility of our collections both physically and through digital

initiatives, to ensure their availability for future generations of scholars.

With a collection as large and varied as that in the Fisher Library there is never a shortage of conservation challenges.

Since 2000 and the launch of the Library’s first freely accessible digital collection, The Barren Lands, eight

large-scale digital special collection projects created at the University of Toronto have been completed. In

addition, thousands of books from the Fisher Library are now available through the Internet Archive. Another

initiative to promote both access and awareness of the Fisher’s collections is the addition of graphic content

such as historical photographs to Flickr and other social networking sites. Digitization of audio visual materials

is an area which requires particular attention. Through ongoing digitization, we hope to create a vast “virtual

Library” of books, drawings, manuscripts, photographs and sound and moving image recordings which can be

used via the web by students, researchers and scholars, both in the library and around the world.

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cOLLecTION DeveLOPmeNT — $2 mILLION exPeNDAbLeLibrary resources constitute an essential element of the two fundamental processes of the University: teaching

and research. In the pursuit of knowledge, students and scholars alike require previously recorded knowledge

and current information as the basis for new theories and innovative thought. To further U of T’s role as a

major international research resource and supplier of scholarly information, it is vital that the Fisher Library

continues to acquire new additions to its special collections, building on current strengths and enhancing

those areas, such as medieval manuscripts, where additional resources are required to support internationally

renowned centres of excellence at the U of T.

Skeleton contemplating a skull, from Geminus’s abridgement of Vesalius, 1559 (included in Anatomia digital collection).

The woodcut of a chicory plant appears in Mattioli’s sixteenth-century herbal. In 1999 William Reuter printed a limited edition of 125 copies from the original wood block.

LIbrAry feLLOwS PrOgrAm — $600,000 eNDOweD An invaluable mechanism to mentor young scholars of the book and forge networks internationally is a fellows

program. Through the generosity of a benefactor, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library received seed funding

for a modest pilot program in 2011. We wish to offer an annual Fellowship as a way of sharing staff expertise

with a recent graduate, as well as bringing fresh ideas and skills to the Library.

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OUr vIew fOr The fUTUre Of The LIbrAry• TheendowmentoftheDirectorshipwillenableustocontinuetoattractthebestandbrightestprofessional

staff, to provide specialist reference, collection development and instructional services to our patrons

• Wewillcontinuetodevelopthecriticalprimaryresourcesneededtosupporttheteachingandresearch

needs of the university by building on current strengths such as the history of science and medicine, and

by enhancing recognized areas of excellence at the University, such as Medieval Studies

• Anendowedpreservationandaccessfundwillmakeitpossibletoaddresscurrentbacklogs,toprovideaccess

to previously ‘hidden’ collections, especially twentieth-century politics, philosophy and Canadian literature

holdings which have taken a back seat to antiquarian collections, but which will form an important

corpus of research materials for scholars of the future. Included in this focus will be a well funded Library

digitization program to enable us to digitize lesser known or deteriorating parts of the collection such as

pamphlets and serials, audio visual material, original photographs and other graphic material, with the aim

of increasing the percentage of material digitized from under 5% to 15% of the holdings

As a History of Graphic Design teacher, I have found the Fisher Library to be an indispensable resource

for my students. At the Fisher, students come face-to-face with actual examples — not images on a

screen — of ancient papyri, cuneiform tablets, illuminated manuscripts and early printed books. In fact,

many of my former students have noted that their visit to the library was a highlight of their semester.

Professor Doug Darrah b.a., r.G.D., school of Design, George brown College

Papyrus fragment, portion of letter from Demaphon to Ptolomaeus, 245 BC

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wAyS Of SUPPOrTINg The ThOmAS fISher rAre bOOk LIbrAry A philanthropic gift to the Fisher Library may be given as a directed donation or pledge to a specific initiative;

or as an unrestricted gift to assist with the Library’s current priorities. As well, a gift may be fully expendable or

endowed. The Fisher Library staff and the U of T Libraries Advancement Office are able to advise donors who

are considering the establishment of a named endowment. In the case of gifts-in-kind, Fisher Library staff will

assess materials for their suitability for addition to the library.

Naming opportunities are also available within the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. These include:

Exhibition Gallery $1,000,000 (TBC)

Reading Room $1,000,000 (TBC)

Stacks Levels / Rings $100,000 - $250,000 (TBC)

Donors may support the Library through several methods, including cash donations, gifts-in-kind, donations of

marketable securities or planned gifts, such as bequests, gifts of life insurance or other vehicles.

DONOr beNefITSDepending on the level of a donor’s gift, recognition opportunities range from invitations to exhibition openings

and special lectures as a Friend of the Fisher, complementary exhibition catalogues, and the opportunity to host

an exclusive hospitality event in connection with an endowed lecture. Recognition opportunities appropriate

to the level of gift may be tailored to donors’ specifications.

Friends of the Fisher Library at the reception for the opening of the Derek Walcott exhibition, October 2011.

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cONcLUSION The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is an unequalled national treasure. Support of this vital and iconic

component of the University of Toronto will make a resounding difference to academic endeavours – not just

in Toronto, and in Canada, but around the world. Your participation is warmly welcomed and will ensure that

future generations of scholars can access outstanding collections and resources, as they further the pursuit of

knowledge.

fOr fUrTher INfOrmATION cONTAcT:Anne Dondertman Associate Librarian for Special Collections and Director, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library 416.978.5332

Megan Campbell Director of Advancement, University of Toronto Libraries 416.978.7644

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