Letter from Bourinot to Hopkins regarding Royal Society of Canada (RSC) new edition
Date Published: 1898
Binding: No binding
4pp. Flat 9-7/8 x 8 inches, folded to 5 x 8 inches (was folded once more) House of Commons letterhead dated Kingsmere [Quebec], 15th Aug. 1898. 2 written pages.Very good condition.
Addressed to Mr. Hopkins regarding a manuscript for an a new edition presumed for the “Bibliography of the members of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC),” 1894. Bourinot calls it "one of the finest works of it's kind ever issued in America."
Kingsmere is in the Gatineau Hills, Quebec was 12 miles from Ottawa was originally old log farmhouse in the early 1870's and purchased by Bourinot in 1875. In the summers, he spent a lot of time writing there "loved to swim and hike and fish with his family" and tend his garden.
When the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) was founded in 1882 Bourinot had become honorary secretary, and he retained the position until his death. He was elected vice-president in 1891 and president in 1892, serving the customary one-year terms. He also supervised the publication of 19 volumes of the society’s Proceedings and Transactions, to which he contributed many important papers. The author of one biographical sketch wrote, “To his efforts the Society largely owed its success. . . . No one can sufficiently appreciate the attention he gave to the Society’s business, and the interest he took in its work.” Others were equally complimentary.
Sir John George Bourinot was a native of Sydney, NS. Bourinot was a journalist and legislative reporter in Halifax before joining the parliamentary staff at Ottawa in 1868. From 1880 to 1902 he served as Clerk of the House and was a recognized authority on parliamentary procedure. He was a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada and a prolific writer on historical and constitutional subjects. In 1898 he was created a K.C. M.G. He died in Ottawa.
The letter recipient is likely John Castell Hopkins was a bank clerk, author, editor, encyclopedist and imperialist.
Very Good. Item #7922
$175.00 USD
$234.91 CAD