In its early years, Toronto was a city of small businesses of astonishing variety. Unlike today, manufacturers held a prominent place in the city. Enterprising Torontonians ran and worked in factories making suits, carpets, home appliances, shoes and much more. The city also boasted lively retail and entertainment sectors. There were confectionaries, barbershops, burlesques, sports arenas — and many others. While many of these businesses are long gone, their histories live on in paintings, archival photographs, and preserved signs and storefronts still scattered across the city. In this book, photographer and blogger Katherine Taylor recounts the stories of these old businesses and their owners and workers. Each is richly illustrated with a variety of archival images and occasionally contemporary photographs of lingering signs, buildings and storefronts. Familiar places in the city take on new meaning as she explores both famous and forgotten businesses from Toronto’s past. This book offers a new take on Toronto’s rich commercial history.

A treasure trove of incredible lives lived. — RICK MERCER, comedian and author Muir sets out to restore the faces of women who worked and struggled in nineteenth-century Toronto. A fascinating read. — WARREN CLEMENTS, author and publisher Emphasizes the enormously influential role women had in laying the groundwork for life in the city today. — DR. ROSE A. DYSON, author of Mind Abuse: Media Violence and Its Threat to Democracy Women in nineteenth-century Toronto were integral to the life of the growing city. They contributed to the city’s commerce and were owners of stores, factories, brickyards, market gardens, hotels, and taverns; as musicians, painters, and writers, they were a large part of the city’s cultural life; and as nurses, doctors, religious workers, and activists, they strengthened the city’s safety net for those who were most in need. Their stories are told in this wide-ranging collection of biographies, the result of Muir’s research on early street directories and city histories, personal diaries, and other historical works. Muir references over four hundred women, many of whom are discussed in detail, and describes the work they undertook during a period of great change for Toronto.

When looking at old pictures of Toronto, it is clear that the city’s urban, economic, and social geography has changed dramatically over the generations. Historic photos of Toronto’s streetcar network offer a unique opportunity to examine how the city has been transformed from a provincial, industrial city into one of North America’s largest and most diverse regions. Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto studies the city’s urban transformations through an analysis of photographs taken by streetcar enthusiasts, beginning in the 1960s. These photographers did not intend to record the urban form, function, or social geographies of Toronto; they were "accidental archivists" whose main goal was to photograph the streetcars themselves. But today, their images render visible the ordinary, day-to-day life in the city in a way that no others did. These historic photographs show a Toronto before gentrification, globalization, and deindustrialization. Each image has been re-photographed to provide fresh insights into a city that is in a constant state of flux. With gorgeous illustrations, this unique book offers an understanding of how Toronto has changed, and the reasons behind these urban shifts. The visual exploration of historic and contemporary images from different parts of the city helps to explain how the major forces shaping the city affect its form, functions, neighbourhoods, and public spaces.

This book is the definitive reference on Champlain and the birth of French America. It discusses not only the beginnings of L'Acadie, its development, and the difficulties of colonization but also looks at France during Champlain's time and analyses how he has been remembered. Lavishly illustrated, Champlain brings together the thirty-two maps attributed to him, reproduced for the first time in colour, as well as illustrations of numerous rare artifacts, documents, and a selection of drawings by Champlain. A tenacious, multitalented individual, Samuel de Champlain was a cartographer, an explorer, and, ultimately, governor of the French colonies in the new world. His extensive writings, largely relating to his voyages, include the only known accounts of the Laurentian colony during the first quarter of the seventeenth century. Contributors include Bernard Allaire, Pauline Arseneault, Bernard Barbiche, Maurice Basque, Alain Beaulieu, Pierre Berthiaume, Gervais Carpin, Jean-Pierre Chrestien, Edward H. Dahl, Dominique Deslandres, John Dickinson, Nathalie Fiquet, François-Marc Gagnon, Gaétan Gervais, Laura Giraudo, Jean Glénisson, Jean-Yves Grenon, Patrice Groulx, Conrad E. Heidenreich, Cornelius Jaenen, Robert Larocque, Frank Lestringant, Raymonde Litalien, Nancy Marcotte, Denis Martin, Paul-Louis Martin, Christian Morissonneau, François Moureau, Étienne Taillemite, Éric Thierry, Marcel Trudel, and Laurier Turgeon.