Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1964 - 1992 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 boxes (60 cm)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Gerard Brender à Brandis (1942 - ) is a Canadian wood engraver and book artist. He was born in the Netherlands in 1942 and moved to Canada with his family in 1947 at the age of 5, living in British Columbia and Nova Scotia before moving to Burlington, Ontario. Brender à Brandis obtained a Bachelor in Fine Arts from McMaster University in 1965. During this time, he began wood engraving. After graduation, he moved to Carlisle, Ontario, where he established the Brandstead Press in 1969. In early books printed by Brandstead Press, Brender à Brandis’ wood engravings would accompany poetry and short texts written by family members or other poets. In 1980, The Porcupine’s Quill published Wood, Ink and Paper, containing 80 reproductions of Brender à Brandis’ engravings. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, he provided wood engraving illustrations for publishers such as The Borealis Press, McClelland and Stewart, and the Quarry Press. In 1986, Brender à Brandis closed the Brandstead Press, and moved to Stratford, Ontario in 1991, where he currently resides and maintained an open studio until 2019.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The wood blocks in the collection were donated to the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library by Gerard Brender à Brandis in 2023. The prints were purchased from Gerard Brender à Brandis by the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library from 2024-2025.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This accession consists of material related to the work of Gerard Brender à Brandis as a wood engraver and book artist. The collection contains 73 prints created between 1964 and 1992. 64 of these are made from wood engravings, 8 are made from linocuts, and 1 is made from a combination of both. The collection also includes 5 original wood blocks.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://aeon.library.utoronto.ca