A major focus of historical research in recent years has been a reappraisal of the Victorian era. One result of this new interest is a growing body of literature on Victorian ceramics. Most of the works published present the specialized point of view of the collector. A book which has, however, dealt comprehensively with Victorian wares as specifically related to the Canadian scene is Nineteenth Century Pottery and Porcelain in Canada by Elizabeth Collard (MontrΘal: McGill University Press, 1967). In addition to a discussion of the wares themselves and the market for which they were intended, transportation and selling methods are examined and the Canadian-made wares are related to the imports. There is also a dictionary of Canadian potters. Though now out of print, this book is available in most university and public libraries and may be borrowed on inter-library loan. (The McGill-Queen's University Press has scheduled a new edition of the book for publication in 1983.)
In D.B. Webster, editor, The Book of Canadian Antiques (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1974), there are chapters on Canadian potting (by D.B. Webster) and on British ceramic imports (by Elizabeth Collard). Lynn Sussman's Spode/Copeland Transfer-Printed Patterns (Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs, 1979; Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History, no. 22) lists patterns on shards from twenty Hudson's Bay Company posts.
Books or booklets on specific areas of Canadian potting include: H.H. Lambart, Two Centuries of Ceramics in the Richelieu Valley (Ottawa: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, 1970; Publications in History, no. 1) and The Rivers of the Potters: The St-Charles and Cap-Rouge Potteries in the Late Nineteenth Century (Ottawa: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, 1970; Publications in History, no. 2); George MacLaren, Antique Potteries of Nova Scotia (Halifax: Petheric Press, 1972); and David L. Newlands, Early Ontario Potters: Their Craft and Trade (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979).
Useful general works on Victoria ceramics, available at many public libraries, are Geoffrey Godden's Victorian Porcelain (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1961), and Hugh Wakefield's Victorian Pottery (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1962). For the marks found on these wares, a good reference work is J.P. Cushion's Pocket Book of British Ceramics Marks, third edition, revised and enlarged (London: Faber and Faber, 1976). Additional information on women, such as Florence B. Barlow, in the ceramics industry can be found in Anthea Callen's Women in the Arts and Crafts Movement, 1870-1914 (London: Astragal Books, 1980).
There are many works which contain only passing references to pottery and porcelain in Canada, but are helpful for recreating the setting in which they were used. The following are examples. Others will suggest themselves in each area of the country. Public libraries should be consulted for them.
Collard, Edgar Andrew, editor, Call Back Yesterdays (Don Mills, Ontario: Longmans, 1965). An anthology of first-person accounts of life in MontrΘal, chiefly in the Victorian period.
Glazebrook G. de T., Katharine B. Brett and Judith McErvel, editors, A Shopper's View of Canada's Past; Pages from Eaton's Catalogues, 1886-1930 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969)
Healy, William J., Women of Red River: being a book written from the recollections of women surviving from the Red River era (Winnipeg: Women's Canadian Club, 1923; reprint ed., Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers, 1977)
Hubbard, B.F., editor, Forests and Clearings: the History of Stanstead County, Province of QuΘbec with sketches of more than five hundred families (MontrΘal: John Lovell Print & Pub. Co., 1874; reprint ed., Sherbrooke, Que.: Page-Sangster Print Co., 1963)
Scherck, Michael Gonder [A "Canuck" of the Fifth Generation], Pen Pictures of Early Pioneer Life in Upper Canada (Toronto: William Briggs, 1905; reprint ed., Toronto: Coles Pub. Co., 1972)
Traill, Catharine Parr, The Canadian Settler's Guide (Toronto: Maclear, 1854; reprint ed., New Canadian Library no. 64, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1969)
Vansittart, Jane, editor, Lifelines: The Stacey Letters, 1836-1858 (London: Peter Davies, 1976). Letters written from a farm in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.
