52 GP]KOGE BEYCE'S PLF:A FOE 



history. I say this without disparagement to the volumes published by Desbarats of 

 Quebec, or to the publications of Shea of New York. The latter, however, are too expen- 

 sive ; and of the former many are already scarce, such as " Champlain," which is now 

 quoted at Paris at eighty francs. 



There is abundant precedent for such an undertaking as that proposed. It is hardly 

 necessary to remind you of such an organization as the Eoxburghe, Club instituted in 1812 

 by Earl Spencer and a number of gentlemen in London, for the republication of rare books 

 and hitherto unpublished manuscripts. The Bannatyne Club, called after George 

 Bannatyne, was established in 1823, in Edinburgh, by Sir Walter Scott and others, for 

 printing works illustrative of the history, antiquities, and literature of Scotland, and 

 published some 113 volumes, of which the Edinburgh Revieio, in 1835, said : " They 

 form a series of contributions to the stock of historical literature Avhich a munificent gov- 

 ernment alone, or such a society as the Bannatyne Club, could or Avould produce." The 

 Maitland Club also, established in Glasgow in 1828, did its share in " reprinting rare and 

 forgotten editions, and thus rescuing these from that oblivion into which the unhappy 

 distaste of the age for such productions would otherwise have allowed them to sink." 



The Hakluyt Society was established in 1846 for the purpose of printing rare and 

 unpublished voyages and travels. As to its special field we find it stated, that " it aims at 

 opening by this means an easier access to sources of a branch of knowledge which yields 

 to none in importance and is superior to most in variety." A late writer says : " The 

 fifty-seven volumes published by the society since its formation have been edited with 

 great discrimination and care, and have come to be regarded as the standard text-books 

 upon their respective subjects." The latest volume published is a re-issue, in a new form, 

 of "Tlie Hawkins Voyages," the first work published by the society. The Hakluyt 

 Society, now mentioned, was preceded in time by the Camden Society. This society was 

 organized in London in 1838 for the publication of old manuscripts of antiquarian or his- 

 torical interest, and called after old William Camden, buried in Westminster Abbey, the 

 most distinguished antiquarian of the Elizabethan era. Of his great work, " Britannia," — 

 of which, by the way, there is a copy of the 1610 edition in the Manitoba Society's library — 

 it was quaintly said " it was the common sun whereat our modern writers have lighted all 

 their little torches." 



Follwiug the example that these societies afford us, may we not, in the incipient 

 stage of our historical researches, add an impetus to the work, by giving some assist- 

 ance to the production of the means necessary for undertaking the study of our history. 

 Let us suppose, as an instance of what might be done immediately, that a committee were 

 appointed to select for issue, this or next year, three works. Let us choose a work dealing 

 with the history of seaboard America, such as Oldmixon's "British Empire in America" 

 with its curious maps, published in London in 1*708, and now sold by dealers for $10 for 

 the two volumes : take as a second work, Hennepin's " Nouvelle Découverte," in French, 

 as representing, in an interesting way, the period of the French régime, now valued at from 

 $10 to $20 ; and say, for a third, " Harmon's Journal of Northwestern Life," scarcely to be 

 had at any price. Were these three, or others of a similar nature, taken, and a proposition 

 made to some Canadian publisher as to the cost of publishing an edition of 500 or 1000 

 copies, there could be no risk in the matter. If, then, a prospectus were issued offering 

 subscribers the three volumes this [year, with the prospect of their being followed by a 



