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Shortt, Adam, and Arthur G. Doughty, editors, Canada and its Provinces: A history of the Canadian people and their institutions by one hundred associates, 23 volumes, [Edinburgh]: Printed by T & A Constable at the Edinburgh University Press for the Publishers Association of Canada Ltd., Toronto, 1913-1914, 1917.
Heralded as an extraordinary accomplishment, Canada and its Provinces was initially published in a limited "Authors' Edition" of 875 copies sold by subscription between 1913 and 1914 with volume 23, the Index and historical tables delayed until 1917. It quickly sold out and was soon followed by the "Archives Edition" and a second limited edition, the "Edinburgh Edition" for sale in the UK and the USA, both issued in 1914 with volume 23 following in 1917.
This encyclopedic work described as "the most comprehensive study of Canadian historical and political developments to appear before WWI", consisted of 23 volumes which included a general index in the last volume. Contents included: volumes 1-2, New France, 1534-1760; volumes 3-4, British dominion, 1760-1850; volume 5, United Canada, 1840-1867; volumes 6-8, The Dominion: political evolution; volumes 9-10, The Dominion: industrial expansion; volumes 11-12, The Dominion: missions, arts and letters; volumes 13-14, Atlantic Provinces; volumes 15-16, Province of Quebec; volumes 17-18, Province of Ontario; volumes 19-20, Prairie Provinces; volumes 21-22, Pacific Province; and volume 23, General Index.
120 illustrations with guards selected from Canada and its Provinces were published separately, loose in a card folder, suitable for framing and available "solely for the subscribers to that work". Nine articles from Canada and its Provinces were issued on the series' special watermarked paper as "reprints for private circulation only".
Wilson Collection includes a copy of the "Prospectus for Canada and its Provinces" issued in 1912 as a pre-publication promotion; 2 full sets of the Authors' Edition, 1913, 1914, 1917; a full set of the Archives Edition, 1914, 1917; and a full set of the "Edinburgh Edition", 1914, 1917. All of these copies, as well as, print copies held by Queen's University, were reviewed and are described in more detail in the pdf below. A digital copy of the "Authors' Edition", 1913, 1914, 1917, is available through Internet Archive (archives.org).
