Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection

   

Seymour Schulich

    The name above will be very familiar to most Canadians since it is seen in association with just about any institution of higher learning in Canada. At the university close by, for example, one finds the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and scattered across the country one will see the Schulich name attached to various disciplines, scholarships and other academic endeavours. Sometimes the name is hidden behind the name of another. The Harris Learning Library at Nipissing University is named for the former Premier of Ontario because Mr. Schulich donated money to have it so-named (he also provided $15 million to Nipissing’s Faculty of Education.)

    One does not tend, however, to associate the name ‘Schulich’ with rare books. Perhaps we prefer to think of philanthropists as philistines since surely money-grubbers cannot also be book collectors. Apparently that is not the case with Mr. Schulich.

Daniel Woolf

    Mr. Woolf is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University. He is also a historian and book collector. At a meeting with Mr. Schulich it was discovered that they both shared an interest in rare books. “Because we’re both passionate about sharing this material with the broader academic community, we agreed to give our collections and create the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection,” according to Principal Woolf. He decided to give to Queen’s his impressive incunabula collection and Mr. Schulich brought to the table his rare books along with $1 million for preservation and expansion of the collection. The Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection is found in the Douglas Library at Queen’s as part of the W.D. Jordan Rare Books & Special Collections.

    I mention all of this because this donation did not attract as much attention as the many others he has made. I noticed it because of an announcement (advertisement) made by Queen’s which appeared in the Globe and Mail late in 2015. The Gaels have reason to gloat and sing “The Oil Thigh”. For more about the collection see below.

Sources:

“Philanthropist, Principal Establish Rare Book Collection,” Mark Kerr, Queen’s Gazette, December 18, 2015.

For a description of the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection.

Principal Woolf’s collection had been displayed in 2014. See “Impressive Incunabula,” Nov. 14, 2014, Queen’s Gazette.

For the Nipissing University example: “Name of Harris Learning Library Unveiled,”

Nugget, August 17, 2010. (Of course, not everyone was pleased by this name choice.)

For a good recent summation of Schulich donations see: “Mega-donor Seymour Schulich Sets the Bar Higher for Education; If the various Schulich faculties at six different universities were relocated, they would represent a mid-size Canadian campus of 16,500 students,” Jennifer Lewington, The Globe and Mail, June 29, 2017.