Open Collections

[between 1839 and 1882?]

1 bookplate : relief printing ; 8.2 x 5.5 cm

Hamilton (Ont.)

Prints

image/jpeg

The Hamilton and Gore Mechanics’ Institute was founded on February 27, 1839 with Sir Allan MacNab as its Honourary Patron. The Institute was formed to share scientific and literary knowledge through a reference and circulation library, the formation of museums, lectures, and other similar activities. The library was controlled by the Library and Reading Room Committee, which reported to the Institute’s Board of Directors. The library was open every day from 8 to 10am and 7 to 10pm from the Institute’s building on James Street North. The Institute was incorporated on May 30, 1849. The Institute was central to the community in Hamilton, but it was also fraught with many problems. There were complaints that the library was too elitist and as membership declined, so too did the library’s condition. The Institute also had a troubled relationship with Great Western Railways (GWR), who at one point provided an annual $200 grant that was then withdrawn after GWR founded its own reading room, in part because of the Institute’s high membership fees and the narrow vision of library management. On April 25, 1839, the Institute disbanded due to financial troubles and the library was sold off in small lots to appease the Institute’s creditors.
References:
1) Act of incorporation [microform] : Rules and regulations and catalogue of library as revised, 1867. Retrieved from <https://archive.org/details/cihm_27518> Freeman, B. (2001). Hamilton: A people's history. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=Fefo5aaIrOgC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=%22Hamilton+and+Gore+Mechanics%27+Institute%22&source=bl&ots=9seeo5WJlW&sig=LfX53y46uDm2jfV5gODkPqjGMfo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwju8vCGy6vQAhVOymMKHbhcC1kQ6AEILDAD#v=onepage&q=%22Hamilton%20and%20Gore%20Mechanics'%20Institute%22&f=false
2) Kristofferson, R. B. (2007). Craft capitalism: Craftsworkers and early industrialization in early Hamilton, Ontario, 1840-1872. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=yKbVprovP9kC&pg=PT158&lpg=PT158&dq=%22Hamilton+and+Gore+Mechanics%27+Institute%22&source=bl&ots=gObnjp4ch5&sig=9JH7moUSYZTU96ipo-K3dsgpONI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix6pyfzKvQAhUC8GMKHcGWChQ4ChDoAQgvMAc#v=onepage&q=%22Hamilton%20and%20Gore%20Mechanics'%20Institute%22&f=false
3) Ontario Education Department. (1881). Special report on the mechanics' institutes. (). Toronto: C. Blackett Robinson. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=9EBEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=%22Hamilton+and+Gore+Mechanics%27+Institute%22&source=bl&ots=kEqfs4xHvp&sig=n3G2KlHSS7ZIANpBwcva5zlTsNE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix6pyfzKvQAhUC8GMKHcGWChQ4ChDoAQg5MAo#v=onepage&q&f=false
4) Palmer, B. D. (1979). A culture in conflict: Skilled workers and industrial capitalism in Hamilton, Ontario, 1860-1914. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=6BSvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR3&lpg=PR3&dq=a+culture+in+conflict+bryan&source=bl&ots=0O1_oMzACO&sig=6x8Qg0lclVtT1w5eDl9OjipmTo8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9r-zPg6_QAhVCw1QKHT7UDV4Q6AEIMDAF#v=onepage&q=a%20culture%20in%20conflict%20bryan&f=false
5) Rules and regulations of the library of the Hamilton & Gore Mechanics Institute. Retrieved from <http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMDC-184--HAMILTON-GORE-VS&R=DC-184--HAMILTON-GORE-VS>

RBSC Bookplates

2017-01-18

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