1897 OTTAWA CAPITAL OF THE DOMINION BRITISH ASSOCIATION SOUVENIR VIEWBOOK PHOTOS For Sale

ITEM DETAILS

Title:Ottawa, The Capital of the Dominion — British Association Souvenir

Author:City of Ottawa

Publisher:American Bank Note Company, Ottawa

Publication Date:1897

Edition:First edition (souvenir viewbook)

Condition:Good

ITEM DESCRIPTION

Handsome 1897 souvenir viewbook of Canada’s capital, produced for attendees of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Pictorial card wrapper shows the City of Ottawa arms beside the title Ottawa, The Capital of the Dominion, with gold-lettered notice “British Association … Souvenir of Ottawa, Canada, 1897.” Printed in Ottawa by the American Bank Note Company on stout coated stock, it presents finely reproduced halftone plates and descriptive text celebrating the city’s government buildings, parks, institutions, and scenery.

Some contents include (as sampled in the plates): Parliament Buildings from the river; an introductory leaf quoting the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava and a stanza by Nicholas Flood Davin (Eos, an Epic of the Dawn); historical survey “Ottawa, Canada”; “Scenery” featuring the Ottawa River, the Laurentian Hills, timber slides, and Chaudière Falls; “Education” (University of Ottawa, model and normal schools); “Churches” (thirty-five denominations noted, including the Basilica and prominent Anglican and Presbyterian churches); “Parks” (Major’s Hill Park, Rockcliffe/Rockliffe Park, Lansdowne Park and the Central Canada Exhibition grounds); “Hotels” (Russell House, Windsor, Grand Union); banks and commercial blocks; the Eastern and Western Departmental Buildings; the Houses of Parliament and the magnificent circular Library of Parliament interior. Overall, a classic example of late-Victorian civic booster literature designed to introduce Ottawa’s landscape and institutions to international visitors.

Ottawa grew from Bytown, established during construction of the Rideau Canal (commenced 1826 under Lieut.-Col. John By, Royal Engineers). The settlement prospered at the junction of the Rideau, Ottawa, and Gatineau rivers, a strategic position for the timber trade whose rafts shot the Chaudière timber slides. Incorporated as a city in 1855, Ottawa was chosen as the capital of the new Dominion by Queen Victoria in 1857. The city’s Gothic Revival Parliament complex—main buildings, departmental blocks, and octagonal Library—became emblematic of Confederation’s aspirations. This 1897 souvenir, prepared for one of the period’s great scientific gatherings, captures Ottawa at the height of its late-19th-century growth.

Pictorial wrappers show expected age-toning, scattered spotting, and handling soil; wrappers are completely detached from the binding but remain in a single place; shallow edge wear with small chips and short closed tears; upper wrapper with an old tide mark and creasing; backstrip area split at the sewing/ribbon holes typical of string-tied examples; inner hinge wear from opening; rear wrapper similarly toned with old stains. Text leaves remain generally clean and legible on heavy coated stock, with only occasional foxing or thumb-marks at margins; plates print up well with good contrast.

A complete, presentable example of a fragile promotional booklet seldom surviving outside institutional collections.

Make sure to see the photos above for complete details.

53 pages.

Measuresapproximately7 inches tall by 9 3/4 inches wide.

KEYWORDS

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