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Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1759-1828, Public Archives of Canada, 1907-1935.
See Also: Documents concernant l’histoire constitutionnelle du Canada, 1759-1828, Archives Publiques, 1911-1935.
Critics of the time hailed Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada as a most valuable source book for Canadian historians (Queen’s Quarterly, Vol. 38, 1931, p. 620).
This work was published in 3 volumes between 1907 and 1935; and included a second and revised edition in 2 parts, published in 1918. The English version was published first with the French versions published later beginning in 1911 until 1935. According to the Introduction to the third volume, published in 1935, this work was initially intended to be a series which covered 1759 to 1867. However, after A.G. Doughty’s retirement in 1935 as Dominion Archivist, the series was not continued, and only covered the years up to and including 1828.
Included as part of the Archives Report, some of the volumes were printed in the Sessional Papers, but each volume was also published separately by the Public Archives. Illustrations were not included in the Sessional Paper printing but were tipped in as fold-out maps in the separately printed volumes. While A.G. Doughty was editor for all volumes including the revised edition, different co-editors worked on the various volumes.
Shortt, Adam, and Arthur G. Doughty, editors, Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1759-1791, Printed Ottawa: S.E. Dawson, 1907. This first volume in the series was part of the ‘Report Concerning the Canadian Archives for the year 1905’ but was not published until 1907 in Sessional Paper No. 18.
The Introduction to the 1907 publication presented the intent of the series (p. ix):
The present volume is the first of a short series which will embody the leading documents relating to Canadian constitutional history. The collection is intended to furnish, in the shape of authentic copies of original documents, a survey of the gradual development of the Canada system of government and of the various forces which, in co-operation or conflict, had much to do with determining the lines along which our destiny as a nation was to be unfolded.
McArthur, Duncan, and Arthur G. Doughty, editors, Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1791-1818, Volume II, Printed Ottawa: C.H. Parmelee, 1914. The second volume was published in Sessional Paper No. 29c, 1914.
Shortt, Adam, and Arthur G. Doughty, editors, Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1759-1791, second and revised edition, Printed Ottawa: J. De L. Taché, 1918. The original volume 1 published in the Sessional Paper No. 18 in 1907 was revised into two parts as volumes 1 & 2 of the 2nd and revised edition published by the Historical Documents Publication Board in 1918.
The Introduction to the 2nd and revised edition explained how this version differed from the original (p. ix):
In issuing the second edition of the Constitutional Documents, 1759-1791, it has been found necessary to divide the volume into two parts. This is owing partly to the additional documents included, but chiefly to the improved form in which it is printed. While the original plan of the work, as indicated in the introduction, has not been departed from, a few additional documents and some extensions of the notes have been found desirable.
Doughty, Arthur G., and Norah Story, editors, Documents Relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1819-1828, Printed Ottawa: J.O. Patenaude, 1935. This third volume was an Appendix to the Public Archives Report for the Year 1934, and was published in 1935. Reports prior to 1930 were printed in the Sessional Papers; the 1934 report was submitted by Arthur G. Doughty to Parliament and printed by the King’s/Queen’s printer the following year (1935).
Print copies from the Wilson Collection and Queen's University (OCLC #496548730; OCLC #933004972) were reviewed; select images are pictured above. On-line digital copies of the Sessional Papers and the individually printed volumes are also available.
