Collection search - John Davis Barnett fonds [multiple media]
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John Davis Barnett fonds [multiple media]
Hierarchical level:FondsContext of this record:Fonds includes:9 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s) -
Finding aid Textual records, graphic materials, cartographic materials, architectural and technical drawings (Electronic) The finding aid consists of several parts: Vol. 1 contains lists of pamphlets and trade catalogues (now in National Library), photographs, drawings, maps and broadsides; Vol. 2 contains an alphabetical index to people, places, projects and materials; and a second index, organized by volume, is a list of subject headings, people (authors, architects, engineers), projects, companies, professional bodies, and common trade names, represented in each volume. This last index is based on the one prepared by Barnett when assembling his collection. Material is arranged and boxed according to this subject listing. MSS1540 (90: Open)Graphic material (photos) (Electronic) Vol. 1 - This part of the digitized finding aid consists of descriptions of photographs, by volume number, within various volumes from vol. 1 to vol. 554. MSS1540 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003465.pdfTextual records (Electronic) Vol. 2 part 1 and 2 - This part of the digitized finding aid consists of descriptions of trade catalogues and pamphlets, by volume number, within volumes from 1 to 599. MSS1540 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003466.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003467.pdfPhotographs (Other) See "Photographic inventories, indexes, and caption lists arranged by accession number." FA-500 (90: Open)Photographs (Electronic) A list of photographers and photographic studios can be found in the accession record (accession 1985-100 NPC). (90: Open)(Electronic) All or some of the documents described have been digitized and are available at the following address: (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_98133(Electronic) Les documents décrits ont été complètement ou en partie numérisés et sont disponibles à l'adresse suivante : (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_98133?usrlang=frTextual record (Electronic) This finding aid describes volumes 429 to 430, 456 and 480 to 515at the file level. MSS1540 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003792.pdf -
Record information John Davis Barnett fonds [multiple media]
Date:1703, [ca. 1750-1920].Reference:R2964-0-0-E, MG30-B86Type of material:Textual material, Architectural and technical drawings, Maps and cartographic material, PhotographsFound in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem ID number:98133Date(s):1703, [ca. 1750-1920].Place of creation:Various placesExtent:43.84 m of textual records.
425 microfiches.
1,274 technical and architectural drawings.
344 maps.
327 photographs : b&w.Language of material:EnglishScope and content:Fonds consists of subject clipping files of materials, n.d., [ca. 1750-1912], removed by Barnett from numerous publications to which he subscribed or collected. The publications ranged from railway and engineering journals to popular magazines of the period such as Harpers and the London Illustrated News. In addition, sections of many other volumes including Diderot's Encyclopedia are found in the collection. Material collected by Barnett includes articles, drawings, plans, sketches, and advertising material, mostly on technological subjects (including photographic processes) although other areas of interest are represented in the collection. A small proportion of the fonds consists of correspondence between Barnett and suppliers of railway equipment. The correspondence is frequently accompanied by trade literature. The fonds also contains microfiches, n.d., reproducing pamphlets and trade catalogues, n.d., [ca. 1770-1912], predominant [ca. 1880-1912], related to engineering and technical subjects and fields, removed from the subject files of volumes: 2 to 41, 45, 47, 48 and 50.
Also included are files that document his interest in literature and the theatre including William Shakespeare, Elizabethan drama, Tennyson, Robert Browning, John Bunyan and other writers.
Fonds also contains technical and architectural drawings, n.d., 1870-1900, arranged according to Barnett's subject indexing system, many of which originated in the mechanical drawing departments of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada and the Great Western Railway of England, though other sources are represented. The fonds also contains maps, n.d., 1758-1917, predominant [ca. 1850-1917], also arranged according to Barnett's subject indexing system, of Canada and the United States, many cut from books and periodicals.
Fonds also contains photographic materials depicting Barnett's life and career. Among the photographic materials are sample photo papers and unusual card mounts.
Fonds also includes several items in horizontal storage including: Xerox copies of "Patent Locked up Klotz Duplex and Single spring safety valves", container 560; a diagram of Wilson's Patent Locked up Klotz Duplex Spring Safty Valves, container 560; "Copy of Working Drawing" of Klotz valve, container 560; a "Prince and Symons' patent Triple Star Burner" poster, container 561; and drawings of Riband Telegraph Post Co. Ltd, container 561.Provenance:Biography/Administrative history:Barnett, J. Davis (John Davis), 1849-1926 : John Davis Barnett, civil engineer, railroad superintendent, book collector, public library advocate, was born in Liverpool, England in 1849, and was trained as a civil engineer and designer in England. He came to Canada in 1866 and apprenticed in the shops of the Grand Trunk Railway in Montreal. He rose rapidly in the Mechanical Department becoming recognized as a "master mechanic" and held the position of Assistant Mechanical Superintendent. He was master mechanic at Stratford ON 1880-84 and then left to become Mechanical Superintendent of the Midland Railway of Canada. In 1888 he returned to the Grand Trunk and was superintendent of its Stratford repair shops until he retired in 1902. Barnett died on 21 March 1926.
Barnett was an active member of a number of professional organizations including the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, the Institute of Civil Engineers, and was a charter member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. For two years he was president of the American Railway Master Mechanics Association.
John Davis Barnett, one of the greatest book collectors of his time, specialized in Shakespeariana, culture, science and technology. His collection includes pamphlets, journals, plans, drawings, photographs, maps, advertising brochures, catalogues and other ephemera, as well as bound volumes. In 1918 he presented his collection to the University of Western Ontario. The bound volumes formed the basis of the university library.
Barnett also had a long-standing interest in public libraries. He was the head of the Grand Trunk Railway Mechanics Institutes for many years. He was a supporter of municipally-based mechanics institutes/libraries and was involved in creating the Stratford Free Public Library in 1896. Barnett was a delegate to the first Ontario Library Institute in 1907 which led to provincial funding for the Ontario Library Institutes (1909) and the creation of the Provincial Library Training School (1910). Barnett was also an early advocate of a national library, both as a national institution collecting Canadian printed material and as the backbone of an interlibrary loan system serving all libraries.
See also: Canadian Men and Women of the Times, 1912 and Wikipedia.Additional information:General note:Acquired from the University of Western Ontario in 1975.
For a discussion of John Davis Barnett, his collections and his importance to Canadian arts and letters, see the article by Ian Rae (2020) titled "A National Library for Canada: the J.D. Barnett Collection" (English Studies in Canada, 46(1), pages 75-102).Custodial history:John Davis Barnett donated his personal and family fonds, and book collection to the University of Western Ontario in 1918, where these materials still remain, and where the book collection formed the basis of the University's library. At the same time he also donated to UWO, his collections of clippings, pamphlets, trade catalogues, broadsides, maps, technical drawings and architectural drawings. These materials related to engineering and technical subjects, as well as the arts, humanities and social sciences. From these aggregations, some pamphlets were removed, bound, and integrated into the University's general library. Aggregations titled "Autographs" and those related to local and Ontario history have been held by the University library's Regional Collections. Materials on medical history were transferred to the museum collection in the Medical School, and later to the custody of the Medical Museum of the University Hospital., Barnett's materials related to the arts, humanities and social sciences were transferred from UWO to the Metropolitan Toronto Public Library in 1975, where they were integrated into that institution's vertical files., Materials related to engineering and technical subjects were transferred from UWO to the Public Archives of Canada in 1975. After lists and indexes were created, the clippings and broadsides were retained by the Manuscript Division; the pamphlets and trade catalogues were transferred to the Public Archives Library, and later to the National Library; the photographs were transferred to the National Photography Collection; and the maps and the architectural and technical drawings to the Cartographic and Architectural Section.Arrangement note:Though materials were segregated by media for preservation reasons, they are arranged and boxed according to the subject index in Finding Aid MSS1540. Corresponding volume numbers between materials of different media indicate Barnett's original, subject-based, aggregations.Location of originals note:Microfiche 1 to 425 copies of pamphlets and trade catalogues: Originals are now in the National Library.Associated material note:Published materials including pamphlets and trade catalogues: Transferred to the National Library., John Davis Barnett's personal and family fonds, and book collection, some of his pamphlets (now bound), and his subject files titled "Autographs" or related to Ontario and local history: Libraries and special collections of the University of Western Ontario., Barnett's subject files with materials related to medical history: Medical Museum of the University Hospital, University of Western Ontario., Barnett's subject files with materials related to the arts, humanities and social sciences: Acquired by the Metropolitan Toronto Public Library in 1975, and integrated into that institution's vertical files.Subject heading:Source:PrivateFormer archival reference no.:MG30-B86Other accession no.:83403/9 CA -
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