About the Author

Francess G. Halpenny is the former managing editor of University of Toronto Press and is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto.
Jean Hamelin is a former Professor of History at Université Laval. He received the Governor General's Award for his Histoire du catholicisme québecois.

Reviews

Published simultaneously in French, this reference work is recognized as Canada's definitive source on biography. The 12th volume completes the first part of the series (1000-1900) and will be complemented by a cumulative index in 1991. Current indexing is unwieldy, with a separate index for Volumes 1-4 and indexes within each of the other volumes. Indexing was expanded with Volume 11 to include a list of identifications (names grouped according to occupational or other characteristics), and a geographical index (names grouped by place of birth as well as place of career). A nominal index is also helpful. The general bibliography is the most interesting feature. Its relevance to North American historical studies has been noted by John J. McCusker in New Guides to Primary Sources in the History of Early British North America. Subsequent volumes are being planned under the editorial direction of Ramsay Cook (York Univ.) and Jean Hamelin. This is an indispensable tool for Canadian reference as well as American historical research collections.-- Mary Hemmings, Univ. of Calgary Law Lib., Alberta