Series consists of correspondence to and from Harold Town and covers a wide variety of subjects. Files include requests for reproduction rights and speaking engagements; correspondence relating to Town's commercial art work from art directors for publications such as Mayfair and to design projects for theatrical productions; requests for reviews and commentaries from such publications as Chatelaine, Globe and Mail, Maclean's, Toronto Life, Toronto Telegram and Toronto Star; requests for Town's participation in group and solo exhibitions; arrangements for the selection of works to be exhibited; correspondence regarding legal issues of copyright infringement and damage to works in transit; arrangements for publishing projects and publicity.
Correspondence also includes: fan letters; provenance requests from both galleries and private collectors for particular works by Town; requests by institutions to borrow works either by Town or by other artists in his personal collection; invitations to openings; bibliographic requests; information from arts organizations to which Town belonged; trade literature relating to services and products used by Town in his art career; some correspondence regarding Town's investments; newsletters and arrangements for meetings of the Sordsmen's Club of which Town was a member; requests for design submissions by Town for architectural projects.
In addition, series includes letters of congratulations from readers of Town's publishing projects including Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm and Albert Franck: Keeper of the Lanes; correspondence relating to numerous awards and citations received by Town; material concerned with the re-zoning of Town's Old Orchard farm near Peterborough, Ontario; and letters of congratulations for specific Town exhibitions including the Art Gallery of Ontario retrospective (1986).
Correspondents include Earle Birney, John Boyle, Samuel Bronfman, Dorothy Cameron, William French, Russell Harper, Helen Mazelow, Pearl McCarthy, Jack McClelland, Lorraine Monk, Joan Murray, Peter C. Newman, Edward O'Dacre, Al Purdy, Gabrielle Roy, Colin Sabiston, Kenneth Saltmarche, David Silcox, Theo Waddington and William Withrow. Organizations include the Canadian Society of Graphic Art, Ontario Society of Art and Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, among others.
