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G. Brender à Brandis fonds. -- 1964-2002. -- 20 cm of textual records. -- 17 cm of sound recordings. -- 1.61 m of graphic material. -- 6 photographs and 27 slides.

Born in the Netherlands in 1942, Gerard Brender à Brandis immigrated to Canada with his family in 1947. After graduating from the Fine Arts programme at McMaster University, he set up his own studio in Carlisle, Ontario. Although he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, he studied wood engraving and the art of making books on his own. In 1969 he established the Brandstead Press, and during the 1970s and 1980s, Brender à Brandis gained both a national and international reputation for his delicate work in wood engraving and linocutting. Best known for his botanicals, interior studies and landscapes, Brender à Brandis is also an accomplished bookwright, producing limited edition books combining the arts of paper-making, wood engraving, typesetting, printing, book binding, and spinning, dyeing and weaving flax into linen covers. He has had solo exhibitions as well as numerous group shows. His work is represented in both public and private collections, and public and university libraries throughout Canada and the United States. Brender à Brandis currently resides in Stratford, Ontario.

There have two accruals. The first accrual consists of correspondence, artist's proofs of wood engravings, limited editions, sketches, sketchbooks, free-hand drawings on tracing paper, news clippings and keepsakes as well as manuscript material, photographs, slides and audio cassettes. This accrual of the Brender à Brandis fonds was accompanied by a donation of some of his book imprints. The collection has been catalogued for Research Collections. The accrual (1.45 m) is arranged into 5 series: personal correspondence; manuscripts; news clippings and ephemera; graphic material; sound recordings. The second accrual (53 cm) consists of pencil, pen and ink, charcoal drawings and sketches, watercolour paintings, artist's proofs, limited edititions and other prints done in the linocut and wood engraving technqiue. A book which accompanies this accrual has been catalogued for Research Collections. The accrual is arranged into 3 series: drawings; paintings; engravings.

Researchers are advised that archives of G. Brender à Brandis can also be found in the Literary Manuscript Collection at the National Library of Canada.

Title based on content of fonds.
The first accrual (41-2002) was acquired in October 2002, the second accrual (11-2006) in November 2005, both from from Gerard Brender à Brandis.
Finding aid available in hard copy and electronically.
There are no access restrictions.
Further accruals are expected.

Contact: archives@mcmaster.ca
Last Reviewed: February 25, 2009
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