This series contains records on Erik Spicer's activities as Librarian of the Parliament of Canada.The Subseries "Personal" contains congratulations letters for Erik Spice''s appointment as Librarian of the Parliament, information on his salaries between 1968 and 1970. The Subseries "General correspondence" contains ongoing and outgoing correspondence of Erik Spicer as Librarian of the Parliament.
The Subseries "Correspondence with University libraries" contains correspondence with university librarians of Carleton University, University of Calgary, Queens University, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, York University and other universities.
The Subseries "Correspondence with Public Libraries" contains correspondence with public librarians at Mimico Public Library, North York Public Library, Ottawa Public Library, Regina Public Library, Saint. John Free Public Library, Scarborough Public Library, Vancouver Public Library and Victoria Public Library.
The Subseries "Correspondence with Parliament Librarians" consists of correspondence with assistant librarians, deputy librarians and other correspondents.. These letters show Erik Spicer's international network. Most of the librarians and other correspondents represented are involved in international associations with Spicer. This series contains correspondence from Australia (Harold L. White; A. P. Fleming; Andrew Leslie Moore; Harold Weir; Hillas de S. C. MacLean; Trevor W. Lawton, R. L. Cope, and Henri Mayer), from Belgium (Jan Grooters, Herman Liebars), from Denmark (Marie Louise Bruzélius), from England (Edgar G. Allen & sons Ltd; J. A Allen and Co.; Bodleian Library; Miss Susan E, Davis ; Jack J. Cherns ; Sir Colin and Lady Crowe; Derek A. Clarke ; David Fifoot,; Percy Faulkner ; Basil Greenhill, Director ; J. L. Hall ; Harry Hoff ; Strathearn Gordon ; Peter Havard Williams ; Trevor R. Reese; Rae Killen ; Maurice B. Line ; J. K. Moore; J. P. Mayer ; Neil Marten,; Claude Mathews ; David Holland ; Ken A. Mallaber ; John B. Poole , House of Commons Library; Tom Riley ; F. Leslie Seidle ; Conrad Swan ; Mr Swaffield ; Colin Steele ; D. H Varley ; D. J. Urquhart; Robin Vanderfelt ; Stephen Vickers; John Watson; D. J. T. Englefield ; D. Menhenne ; David Holland ; William Torrington), from Finland (Dr. Jorma Vallinkoski ; Henrik Schauman) from France (Madeline Madeleine Moinot ; Jean Bécarud ; Geneviève Feuillebois ; Mrs M. Adès ; Yves Vincenot ; André Chandernagor ; Jean Lyon ; J. Lethève ; Jules Marie Priou ; F. Carlotti; Susanne Honoré), from Germany (K. G. Wernicke ; Annedore Oertel Wissenschaftliche ; Wolfgang Dietz and Gunther Reichardt), from Italy (Dr. John Nemeth), from Jamaica (Olive Gouthreau), from Japan (Minoru Kishida; Tsutomo Saito, Yoshimori Ishhihara), from Luzxembourg-European Parliament, from New Zealand (Geoffrey Palmer, H.. de H.C.S. McLean. Ian Matheson), from Norway (Olaf Torp), from the Republic of Philippines, from Poland, from Romania, from South Africa (H. J. Aschenborn, Director, State Library, Pretoria, South Africa), from Sweden (Tryggve Byström, David Schwarz, Goran Söderlund, Anna Britta Wallenius. Gert Hornwall, Bengt Hjelmqvist ; Mrs M. Akesson ; Gunnel Bohman ; Lars Frykholm), from Switzerland (Karl Hausmann and Max Boesch ) and from the United States (John G. Lorenz, Roger K. Haley, L. Quincey Mumford).
The Subseries "Professional files on different subjects" contains records arranged by subject files concerning different activities of Erik Spicer. Among others, this Subseries includes records on the Parliament Library Centennial Survey (1967), on official visitors to the Library of Parliament, correspondence with the members of press Gallery, on the Royal Commission on book publishing, letters sent to different people concerning the coins of the Library of Parliament, on The Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, conferences where Erik Spicer was invited and records concerning his participation in the Advisory Board and the Advisory Council of the National Library of Canada, etc.
The Subseries "Documents collected" includes records gathered by Erik Spicer during his career at the Library of Parliament. Most of them were left at the Library of Parliament and Spicer decided to keep them. This Subseries includes correspondence between Wishart McLea Robertson (1891-1967) and Walden Moore, member of the Atlantic Union Committee for the United States, and other correspondents during the years 1954 and 1955. In 1945, Mackenzie King chose Robertson to be the Leader of the Government in the Senate and invited him to join the Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio. Robertson was instrumental in piloting the legislation providing for Canadian participation in the United Nations. His growing role in international affairs led him to participate, as a delegate of the Canadian Government, in the 1946 New York Assembly of the United Nations and in the 1948 Paris Assembly. Thereafter, he dedicated himself to developing the non-military dimension of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Encouraged by Pearson, then Secretary of State for External Affairs, Robertson got in touch with statesmen in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States by correspondence and by visits abroad. Robertson was appointed Speaker of the Senate on 14 October 1953. In addition to his duties in the House, in May 1954 he contributed in the formation of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association to which he was elected President. With his encouragement, similar associations were formed in other NATO countries, a development which won him the 1954 Atlantic Award for outstanding service to the Atlantic community. In May 1955, on behalf of the Canadian Association, he invited the other national associations to an international conference to be held in Paris. Thus it was that the NATO International Parliamentary Association was formed in July 1955 with Senator Robertson as Chairman of the conference. At its conclusion he was elected Honorary Life President of the international association. In addition to the correspondence, the records concerning Robertson contains speeches and articles written by Robertson (1954-1955), some files concerning meetings of the NATO Parliamentarians Association, the standard committee, third (1958) and fourth (1959) annual meetings and the Atlantic Congress of 1959. These files fill in some gaps in the fonds Wishart McLea Robertson held by LAC.
The Subseries "Documents collected by Erik Spicer" also included a letter from Winston Churchill, Minister of Munitions in England, to Sam Hughes, former Minister of Defense of Canada. The letter was sent to Sam Hughes, August 13, 1917. Sam Hughes was dismissed of his function by Borden on November 9, 1916. The letter concerns the plans for a light trench gun designed by Hughes and sent to the Prime Minister of England. Churchill, as the new Minister of Munitions, sent a letter to inform Hughes that a specimen of the gun had been sent to General Head Quarter and they are waiting for the report. It seems that this gun has never been in use. It also contains a brochure with leather cover containing the list of the books of the Canadian Pacific Railway Library for the year 1919 ; a file concerning the books sent by the Library of Parliament to the members of different expedition in Arctic area. This file contains letters and the list of the books sent between 1926 and 1952. This Subseries also included correspondence between, the Parliamentary librarian, Francis Aubray Hardy (1944-1959), and his assistants with the Canadian Institute of International Affairs (1938-1942), the Library of Congress (1941-1944), the Kemptville Agricultural College (1947-1953) and others. There is no records in LAC collection concerning Hardy and his assistants. Finally, this Subseries contains an annotated manuscript entitled The Annals of Trumpington written under the pseudonym "Nelson Dumbedykes". A note indicates that this is the only copy of this manuscript, the others have been destroyed.
