96 pp, small 4to (10 1/8" H). Wonderful colour illustrations and decoration throughout. "Just as we have four grandparents, and our lives come from their lives, so we might describe fire, earth, water, and air as our 'Four Ancestors'. From the giant who pulled the sun across the sky to the mighty elk who created the earth, from the greedy monster who kept the rivers from flowing to the bird whose wings made the wind, this collection offers tales from more than twenty Native North American cultures. Joseph Bruchac's masterful storytelling combines with evocative illustrations by four Native Am... View More...
57 pp, 8 1/2" H. B&w drawings. Inscribed facing the title page: "For your entertainment only - Joyce Burnell. Jan. 2005". A collection of stories about hauntings in Oakville, Ontario and the surrounding area. Includes: The Captain and the Mystery Light; Spirit Seen at St. Paul's; Sixteen Mile Creek; Burnhamthorpe Road; The Haunted Statue; The Coachman; Free Spirit Returns to Freestone House; Wallpaper; etc., etc. Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - light fading to colour of spine, two very small light soiling marks on front cover - tiny mark on rear c... View More...
249 pp, 9" H. B&w photographs. "These are the folk tales from Dr. Helen Creighton's life journey through the Maritime Provinces, collecting songs and ghost stories and old cures - and folk tales. Helen serves as our guide, introducing us to storytellers, setting the scene of the telling - and then she lets the person tell it as they told it to her. The feel of the kitchen and the fish shed still cling to these stories. Some are long, really miraculous folk tales - miraculous in detail and in that they managed to survive. Others are the brief riddle or the tantalizing quick-telling that a fol... View More...
89 pp, 8 3/8" H. Signed and dated by the author on front free endpaper. A collection of anecdotes, legends, folklore by a Newfoundland author. Previous owners' names on ffep, otherwise clean and tight. Minor edgewear to covers, spine flat and unceased. View More...
128 pp, 10 1/4" H. Colour and b&w photographs, drawings. "In Ojibway tradition, mothers and grandmothers netted tiny circular cobweb-like charms from willow and sinew. These delicate charms were not meant to last but were intended to protect newborn children from 'everything evil, just as a spider's web catches and holds everything that comes in contact with it'. The beauty of dreamcatchers is reflected in their symmetry and natural accents. For generations, they have been crafted by making a hoop out of fresh wood, and then weaving a web inside the circle of deer sinew or colored thread. ... View More...
199 pp, 8 1/2" H. Facsimile reprint of the George H. Richmond edition of 1897 - one of the Coles Canadiana Collection. Maroon boards with black title block, gold lettering/banding on spine, gold lettering/banding on front board. B&w illustrations, music notation. An affectionate look at Quebec and vicinity at the end of the 19th century. Contents: My Friends, the Habitants of Canada; Animal Life and Fish; Occupations; Amusements; The Church; Marriages and Festivities; The Feudal System; Changes in Type; Chansons Canadiennes (Canadian Songs); Language - Education; Conveyances; Some Nationa... View More...
136 pp, 8 1/2" H. B&w illustrations - photographs, drawings. "(P)ays tribute to Pauline Johnson's contribution to Vancouver's cultural heritage and her enduring legacy of sharing some of Canada's rich background of mythological stories. This collection of stories as told to Johnson by Squamish Chief Joe Capilano, represents one of her lasting achievements of cultural preservation. Before her arrival on the West Coast, she was a proponent of Mohawk culture on stage and in her writings. She retired from the stage but continued to tell stories. The Vancouver legends were published separately at ... View More...
96 pp, 7 3/8" H. B&w drawings. A group of short stories on the themes of elves, stars, eagles, insects, princesses, etc. The author was born on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Contents: Against the Grain; Thane and the Sheepdogs; A Dream of the Insect; The Boy and the Eagle; The Old Man; The Little Star That Came to Earth. Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - light soiling on covers, small sticker mark (residue) on rear cover, tiny dent on front edge of spine. View More...
144 pp, 9" H. B&w silhouettes by Mark Grice. "A collection of satires, sketches and imaginary histories amounting to a mythical history of the premier province of Canada. It contains in shocking and sometimes unforgettable detail the whole history of Ontario except for the facts." Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - very minor edgewear, spine flat and uncreased. View More...
276 pp, 7 11/16" H. Dark blue cloth with gold lettering/decoration on spine and front board. Tissue-covered b&w photographic frontispiece of author with facsimile signature, title page decorations by J.E. Laughlin, b&w portraits of Tecumseh and Brock. Contents: Part I. Tecumseh: A Drama; The Legend of Chileeli; A Ballad for Brave Women; The Last Bison; Missipowistic; The Iroquois at the Stake; Kanata; Vain Regrets; Open the Bay!; In Memory of Wm. A. Foster; Absence; The River of Pain; Cabot; Demos Tyrannus; The Recompense; Ruins; The Chain; Fulfilment. Part II. Dreamland; The Pines; Address... View More...
238 pp, 9 1/4" H. Brown cloth, bevelled boards, gilt lettering/decoration on spine and front board, top edge gilt. Inscribed on verso of frontispiece by the publisher: "To John Irwin Esq / of St. Andrews / Que / Feb. 1st / William F. Drysdale." Over 50 b&w illustrations - all present. Contents: Introduction; Mythology and Folklore; Mammoth Beavers; The European Beaver; The More Important American Rodents; Life History of the Canadian Beaver; Geographical Distribution; Engineering Accomplish-ments; Economic Considerations; Chemico-Medical Properties; Importance in Trade and Commerce; Uses o... View More...
48 pp, 11" H. "An epic retelling in poetic form of the creation myth of the Mississaugas. The author of the poem, W. Gordon Mills, was a businessman with the T. Eaton Company in Toronto in 1923 when he wrote the poem. He was later to serve as Deputy Minister of National Defence for Naval Services in the Second World War. In recognition of his wartime work he was named a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG). The poem is illustrated by eleven paintings, specially commissioned for this publication. The paintings are the work of Saul Mamakeesick, a young Cree/Ojibway art... View More...
58 pp, 86 pp - 2 volumes 9" H. Spirit Quest (ISBN 9781550028317 - second printing, 2009 - b&w illustrations by Joe Silvey) - "Told in the tradition of rich Coast Salish legend, Diane Silvey recounts the adventures of teenaged twins Kaya and Tala as they journey into the British Columbian wilderness confronting fish and fowl, beast and phantom, on their mission to retrieve a sacred box which symbolizes the spirit of their people. They encounter wolverines, snakes and sharp-toothed fish of the deep as well as ferocious hawkmen and the evil spirits of the underworld as they and their mystical f... View More...
144 pp, 8vo (9" H). B&w maps. "(S)eeks to provide illustrations of Arctic mysteries and fictions which often occur as a result of misconceptions of Arctic geography. The chapters are extremely varied in subject matter, and conclusions are in the domain of speculation. The book begins with very early examples of northern travels starting with the probable adventures of Pytheas the Greek, Brendan the Irish monk and the four medieval odysseys of Adam of Bremen, Nicolas of Lynn, Prince Henry Sinclair and Zeno of Venice. The next chapter addresses misconceptions of polar environments, especially i... View More...
