Back to M Index

Finding Aid - Index

Mowat, Farley

Farley Mowat fonds. -- 1924-2011; predominant 1947-2010. -- 48.57 m of textual records and other material.

Farley Mowat was born on 12 May 1921 in Belleville, Ont. and educated at the University of Toronto. In 1952 he published People of the Deer, a book about the Ihalmiut people of the Barrenlands, the first of his many books with a northern theme. Other popular Mowat themes are stories that involve the sea, Newfoundland and the protection of the environment and all living creatures. He is a man of strong opinions who has described himself as a "rampant nationalist" and a "story-teller who is more concerned with reaching his audience than with garnering kudos from the arbiters of literary greatness." Among the many honours and awards that he has received is an honorary doctorate from McMaster University in 1994.

The fonds consists of manuscripts, research materials, correspondence, financial documents, photographs, maps, audio reels, and video cassettes. There have been seventeen accruals. The first accrual is organized into the following series: manuscripts, research material, miscellaneous files, correspondence, personal papers–journals and financial records. The second accrual and third accruals have been combined and consist of manuscripts, research files, speeches, reviews, printed materials, correspondence. The fourth accrual is roughly organized into the following series: manuscripts, research materials, correspondence, financial material, printed materials, photographs. The fifth accrual is arranged into the following series: correspondence, financial, manuscripts. The sixth accrual is arranged into the following series: correspondence, business files, manuscripts. The seventh accrual (01-1992) is arranged into the following series: manuscripts, correspondence, financial. The eighth accrual (02-1993) is arranged into the following series: manuscripts and correspondence. The ninth accrual (10-1997) is arranged into the following series: correspondence, research, manuscripts, typescripts and proofs, manuscripts by others, photographs, printed materials and video cassette, financial. The tenth accrual (08-2000) is arranged into the following series: correspondence, financial, graphic illustration, photographs and printed materials, manuscripts, typescripts and proofs, manuscripts by others, personal and journals. The eleventh accrual (38-2000) consists of 67 letters from Mowat to his son, Robert Alexander (Sandy) Mowat, written between 1961 and 1978. The twelfth accrual (10-2001) consists of letters between Mowat and his editor, Peter Davison and the thirteenth accrual (20-2001) consists of the following series: correspondence, personal, research material, manuscripts, and published material. The fourteenth accrual (18-2003) consists of the following series: manuscripts, correspondence, research material, and manuscripts by others. The fifteenth accrual (17-2006) consists of correspondence, financial material, manuscripts, causes and invitations, reviews, fan mail, audio reels, a video cassette, and artwork. The sixteenth accrual (72-2009) consists of manuscripts and research notes, permissions for reprinting and general financial information, a master's thesis and interview with Mowat, correspondence, fan letters from schoolchildren, and pamphlets. The seventeenth accrual (79-2011) consists of manuscripts, permissions, correspondence, and miscellaneous materials.

Books have been catalogued separately. A listing of books that accompanied the fifth accrual is available in the master file. A listing of books that accompanied the fourteenth accrual is also available.

Title based on content of fonds.
The first accrual was received in 1970; the second accrual on 13 February 1975; the third accrual in November 1976; the fourth accrual in 1984; the fifth accrual in 1988; the sixth accrual in the summer of 1990; the seventh accrual in 1992; the eighth accrual in 1993; the ninth accrual in the spring of 1997; the tenth accrual in February 2000, all from Farley Mowat. The eleventh accrual was donated by Robert Alexander (Sandy) Mowat, in October 2000 and the twelfth accrual was donated by James King in June 2001. The thirteenth accrual was received in July 2001; the fourteenth accrual was received in May 2003; the fifteenth accrual in May 2006; the sixteenth accrual in March 2009; the seventeenth accrual in 2011, all from Farley Mowat.
Finding aid available in hard copy and electronically. Finding aid for the first accrual was published in Library Research News 2, no. 6 (September 1974). It contains a preface written by Mowat.
Access restrictions:
All journals in all accruals are closed until the death of Farley and Claire Mowat. Dates concerning the opening of correspondence are listed below.
First accrual: Correspondence, business and personal files, research materials, bird surveys, field notes, annals of Saskatchewan trip, Arctic research diary, transcript of daily log, and Arctic notes are closed until the deaths of Farley and Claire Mowat.
Second and Third accruals: Correspondence is closed until the deaths of Farley and Claire Mowat.
Fourth accrual: Correspondence, legal, and financial records closed until December 2009.
Fifth accrual: Correspondence, financial records closed until December 2013.
Sixth accrual: Journals are closed until the death of Farley and Claire Mowat.
Seventh accrual: Financial and legal records are closed until December 2017. Permission can be sought through archival staff to see these documents earlier.
Eighth accrual: Correspondence is closed until December 2018. Permission can be sought through archival staff to see these documents earlier.
Ninth accrual: Correspondence series (except fan mail), Research series (except maps and printed materials), and Financial series are closed. All journals are closed. Permission can be sought through archival staff to see the correspondence.
Tenth accrual: Correspondence series (except fan mail), and Financial series are closed. All journals are closed.
Eleventh accrual: All material in this accrual closed for twenty-five years except with written permission from Robert Alexander Mowat.
Twelfth accrual: No access restrictions.
Thirteenth accrual: All correspondence except fan mail is closed and field notes are closed.
Fourteenth accrual: All correspondence except fan mail is closed. Permission can be sought through archival staff to see some of the correspondence.
Fifteenth accrual: No access restrictions.
Sixteenth accrual: No access restrictions.
Seventeenth accrual: No access restrictions.
Further accruals are expected.

Contact: archives@mcmaster.ca
Last Reviewed: December 8, 2006
URL: