...
Heritage
The Univ.ersity of Toronto Library celebrates the
presentation of its seven millionth volume
General James Wolfe 's copy of Thomas Gray's
A ll Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
October 4, 1988
A
nation al treasure, representing a direct link with a critical turnin g
poi nt in Canada ' s history, Wolfe ' s co py of Gray's Elegy plays a uniqu e role
in our cultural heritage.
The Friend s of the Thomas Fisher Ra re Book Library are presenting
this book to the Uni versity of Toronto Library as the Library 's seven
millionth volume . The book was acq uired with financial support from the
federal C ultural Properti es Rev iew Board and some generous do nations
from individual " Friends". The gift of this ve ry spec ial book has significantly heightened the sense of acco mplishme nt felt by all those who have
supported the Librar y during its long and proud history.
Th e generos ity of private co llec tors and donors has for many yea rs
been ce ntra l to the growth of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library,
which has becom e the largest and most diverse c ultural resou rce of its
kind in Canada . Th e " Friends" organizatio n, founded in 1984, brin gs
togeth er tho se wh o are co mmitted to strengthening the Libr ary' s outstand ing collections to encouraging a grea ter aware ness of the Library 's
re so urc es .
Th om as G ray ' s poem , An Elegy Wrillen ill a Country Churchyard, a
melanch oly meditati on on death , is one of the g lories of English literature.
It was a great popular uccess whe n
first published in 1751 and soon went
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow' r
into se veral ed itions. Genera l James
And all that beauty, all that wealth e' er gave ,
Wolfe was given a copy of the 1754
printin g by his fiancee, Kath erine
Awaits alike th' ine vitable hour.
Lo wther ,
befo re se tting sa il for
Ca nada in 1759. The title-page is
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
inscribed by Wol fe " Fro m K.L. Nep tune at Sea" and the poem is annotated throu ghout in his hand . He look
the book with him on the voyage
from Po rt sm o uth , Eng la nd , to
Ha lifax, Nov a Scotia, and found
much in it to give him thought while
preparing for the batt le of the Plains
of Abraham .
Wol fe had strugg led wi th
ill-hea lth for severa l months before
th e battle , and in addi tio n, his
relations with his subordinate army
co mmande rs had seriously deteriorated. Apparen tly a man of a rather
pessimistic disposition, Wolfe was by September eve n con templating the
likelihood that he might not take Q uebec. Th e Dictionary of Nationa l
Biography entry suggests that " he had a presenti ment of his fate, which
made him the night before [the battle] take a miniature of Miss Low ther
from his breast, and hand it ove r to his old schoo lfellow, Com mander John
Jer vis (afterwards Lord SI. Vincen t), to be restored to her." It was perhaps
these feelings that prom pted him to recall the famous line, "The path s of
glory lead but to the grave" , as he went down river with a few colleagues
in a small boat, and to comment "Gentlemen, I would rather have written
that piece than lake Quebec tomorrow ."
During the
fire, perh aps even
wr ist, and leadin g
aga in in the body ,
and he lived only
battle, Wolfe apparen tly deliberately exposed himsel f to
co urting death. He disregarded an early wound in the
the attack as the British line moved forwa rd, was struck
many acco unts say by two bullets. The injury was fatal
a short time.
l
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library houses many rare books and
special co llections. It conta ins one of the grea t collections of Canadiana in
the co untry, havin g assiduously co llec ted for many years the books and
docume nts which reveal the early history of Canada , particularly during
the mid-eighteenth ce ntury, and compleme ntary co llec tions of e ighteenthcentury Eng lish histor y and literatu re.
T he University of Toronto Lib rary , of which the Fisher Library is a
constituent part, was founded in the midd le of the nineteen th century. The
University 's library system, consisting o f some fifty separate units to
compr ise the largest library in Canada and one of the major rese arch
librari es in North America, is held in high renow n throughout the
academic world . Its co llection of seven milli on vo lumes, noted for its
breadth and depth, conta ins book s in 121 languages. Through its North
America n and wo rld-w ide networks, the Library makes available to its
users information on such diverse topics as Assyriology , cyberne tics,
histor y, medi cine , mu ic and nuclear sc ience .
This information is
co ntained in uch different medi a as books, papyru s, computer tapes and
C D ROM .
Offerin g a broad range of se rvice , including up-to-dat e on-line
acces to the whol e co llection, the University of Toronto Library se rves not
only the scholarly community but all ec tors of a wider co mmunity
professionals, business peopl e and the pub lic.
It is proud to act as
custodian to this national treasure.
Th e Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, 120 St. George Stree t,
Toronto, Ontario M5S lA S, is located at the co me r of Harbord Street and
St. George . Wolfe ' s copy of Gray' s Elegy will be on display in the Library,
Monday through Friday, 9.00 - 5.00, starting Octo ber 5, 1988.
This publication was produced by the Univershy of Toronto Library as a keepsake of Ihe presenr etion of Its seven
millionth volume.