Toronto: Past and Present - 1884 by: C. Pelham Mulvany M.A., M.D. (on CD)

$12.00

Cat No.:   CA0414:  (See also product CA0414-DL for this "book" as a downloadable file and save the mailing cost.)

Subtitled: A Handbook of the City. Illustrated with many architectural drawings.

According to the Prelude of this volume the book was published to “update” Toronto’s recorded history in a year which marked the semi-centenary of its granting of the status of City. This date also approximated the centenary of Governor, Col. Simcoe’s landing here original to establish a (temporary*) administrative centre of what was to become Upper Canada. It was originally designated as the settlement of “York” but later returned to the original name of “Toronto,” the original aboriginal name of the area.
* The first plan, to build an administrative centre near the City of London (Ontario), was later canceled so Toronto became the permanent site.

Following a brief Prelude (or Preface) chapter, “The Toronto of the Past” chapter provides a reflection of the early history of the founding and initial establishment of the city. The body of the book is contained in 25 Chapters whose names - and occasional content descriptors - identify the various aspects of the City considered, viz.:
1-The Toronto of the Past; (A sketch of its History)
2-The Flora and Fauna;
3-The Arteries of Toronto; (the Streets, Avenues, Boulevards, and Street Railway)
4-The Public Buildings of Toronto;
5-The Arms of the City; (the Railways of the Past and Present)
6-The Heart of the City; (Benevolent and Charitable Organizations, Homes and Asylums)
7-The Mind of the City; (The Canadian Institute, The Libraries, etc.)
8-The Brains of Toronto; (the Public Schools; the University; Upper Canada College; Knox; St. Michael’s and Trinity Colleges )
9-The Lungs of the City; (Toronto’s Parks, Public Gardens, Summer resorts)
10-The Hotels and Restaurants;
11-Social Life in Toronto; (Society, the Drama, Musical Societies, the Various Clubs)
12-The Secret and other Societies of Toronto;
13-The Markets of Toronto; (Market, Stock Exchange and Board of Trade)
14-The Soul of the City: (the Cathedrals, the Churches, the Synagogue, the Meeting-Houses)
15-The Tongue of the City; (Books and Periodical Publications, Newspapers of the Past and Present)
16-Authors in Toronto; (Who They are and What They Have Written)
17-The Financial Institutions (Banks, Bankers, Trust and Loan Companies)
18-The Insurance Offices (Life, Fire, Marine, Accident, and other Insurance Companies)
19-Prominent Wholesale Firms (Dry Goods, Millinery, Laces, Carpets, Books, Etc.)
20-Military and Defensive Organizations of the City (The Volunteer Regiments, Police, and Fire Brigades)
21-The Pulse of the City (Toronto from a Hygienic Point of View, etc.)
22-The Bones of the City (The Old Burial Places, St. James’ Cemetery, Necropolis, Mount Pleasant, etc.)
23-The Municipal Government of Toronto
24-The Suburbs of the City
25-The Marts of the City (Where the people do their trading)

The book also provides two printed Indices;
-INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS (Alphabetized page index of 43 of a total of 47 illustrations Illustrations present in the book.*)
-INDEX TO TEXT (Alphabetized page index of Keywords and Names).
The first provides access to one of the book’s primary features, a set of beautifully engraved architectural “street-scapes” and scenic views around the City.
* We have included a COMPLETE index in the digital edition’s “Content” pages.

From the Chapter headings it might be concluded that the book is only concerned with the inanimate and impersonal features of the city, however the author also took every opportunity to provide information about the inhabitants by providing, in many cases a “potted” biography when it helped to add another dimension to his function based information.

Even with the included page Index the original paper publication was not an easy book to search for specific information so our digital publication, with its reliable - 100% inclusive - digital text search capability, will unlock the potential of this book to provide all available details about the city as it entered into this period of ever accelerating growth at the end of the 19th century.

No. of CDs is:  1 ;   Format is:  PDF ;   Searchable?:  YES;

FastFind:  Yes;  ISBN No.:   978-1-927503-53-9 ;