Conrad Graham

With the opening of the Victoria Bridge in 1860, a year-round transportation route was finally established to the Atlantic Ocean at Portland, Maine. The bridge also provided connections, via the railway, to Upper-Canada and the mid-western United States. The economic, political, social, and cultural effects of these links were felt in Montreal and the surrounding areas. The authors focus primarily on the construction of the bridge, but several essays dealing with the years before during and after the event demonstrate that 1845 to 1875 was an important era in the industrialization of Montreal.

"Eclectic" is often used in association with the Victorian era, from which the majority of the objects featured in this book originate. They range from ceramics, glass, and furniture, to silver, wood carving, and paintings of both secular and religious subjects. The authors provide thorough documentation for the artifacts chosen as well as essays outlining the context in which each object was made. The variety of styles and materials in the collection reflects popular trends of the era and creates a vivid picture of bourgeois life in Montreal during the nineteenth century.

From as early as the seventeenth century, Montreal was the subject of numerous drawings and watercolours. The area was initially mapped by French surveyors and later depicted in the British topographical tradition by artists and military officers whose training included instruction in draughtsmanship. Taken from a variety of collections in addition to the McCord's, these examples of plans and views provide a fascinating cross section of the range of styles of representation until the 1850s and the advent of photography as well as illustrating the growth of Montreal from a fur trade settlement into a metropolitan centre. Each illustration is thoroughly documented and its historical and stylistic context is analysed. Biographical information on the artists is also included.