5 



acted as Governor. Their library, left in Fort Garry, was well 

 selected, as the books in our hands show. A few books of this 

 first instalment belonged to the Red River library formed 

 several years afterwards. This library was divided into two 

 parts ; the one being kept in the neighborhood of St. John's was 

 chiefly absorbed by the first provincial library in 1870, but it 

 was unfortunately burnt Dec. 3, 1873, along with the Parlia- 

 ment Building, which stood near the site of the Bank of Ham- 

 ilton, Main Street. The other half of the library remained near 

 Lower Fort Garry, and of this a few books were secured and 

 are in our possession. Two record books of the Red River 

 library came into the hands of the Society a year ago, and are 

 in the archives. 



THE PROVENCHER ADDITION. 



To the Society's library, public libraries of Canada and the 

 United States, and the various governments, on application 

 being made to them, immediately began to pour in books, re- 

 ports and documents. Besides this, the policy of the Society 

 was always to have a little money ahead. In this way valuable 

 collections of books were secured at a low cost. The first 

 important addition of this kind was a well-selected collection of 

 early Canadian books, the property of Mr. J. A. N. Provencher, 

 a man of considerable literary ability, who was the first Do- 

 minion Indian Agent in Winnipeg. Wishing to realize on his 

 books Mr. Provencher made a most favorable offer to the 

 Society, which was accepted. This list of rare books is too 

 long to be given. A beautiful six-volume edition of Pere 

 Charlevoix' Travels was included ; also twelve huge quarto 

 volumes of the Documentary History of New York — a most 

 valuable set ; likewise a battered but interesting copy of Alex- 

 ander Mackenzie's (1801) voyages. In the library beside this 

 volume, though obtained later, stands a three volume edition 

 of a translation of Mackenzie's work, printed (1802) in French 

 in Paris. This is of great value. It was published for Na- 



