What types of books were held at the Fortress of Louisbourg library? The library itself was kept in an administrative building and was accessible to staff at the Fortress and other National Parks across Canada. The relocation of the books to Cape Breton University will enable the public to borrow the books from the general collection or to view the rare books in the Beaton Institute's reading room. I will describe how to find the books in CBU's collection in a later post, but for now I want to talk a bit about the topics collected by the Fortress's library.
An impressive breadth of topics is covered by the library's collection. From bibles to architectural plans, the Library of Congress's classification system is fairly represented. Here are a few (sometimes surprising) topics covered:
- Bibles and instructive religious material. Of particular interest is a Latin bible published in 1666 in remarkable condition.
- Histories of towns in England, France, United States, and eastern Canada. There is a focus on cities with a strong French heritage, such as Montreal and New Orleans.
- Cultural studies exploring race, class, customs and practices, dress; Acadian, Puritan, Loyalist, Mi'kmaq, British, French, American
- Architecture from European masterpieces to pioneer settlements
- Art books profiling Renaissance masters in painting, drawing and music
- Military tactics, biographies of generals, profiles of forts contemporary to Louisbourg
- Law and legislation
- Fiction set in Louisbourg
- Educational material intended for the general public, school-aged children
Please note that many of the Fortress's books are published in French.
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