Series consists of 29 diaries, dated reading journals and day planners created and preserved by Watson during her adult life. These materials contain fragments of her creative writing; drawings in graphite, coloured pencil and ink; reading notes and language exercies; collected ephemera; recordings of her daily activities and financial transactions; and reflections on her experiences, emotions, relationships and surroundings. In general Watson kept confessional and reflective diaries from 1954/55 to about 1957. When she moved to Toronto in 1956 to persue her doctoral studies, Watson began to keep what can be best described as reading journals, dated notes pertaining to books she was reading interspersed with short diary entries regarding her correspondence, her observations of her surroundings and her academic experiences. After she moved to Edmonton to teach at the University of Alberta, and upon her retirement in Nanaimo, Watson's recorded thoughts become more infrequent. In her later life, Watson appears to have purchased commercial day planners to record her daily activities and financial translations. It is apparent that Watson kept journals during her early teaching career in Cariboo Country in British Columbia. However, it seems she destroyed these at a later period.
Series consists of Watson's written material, including early drafts, manuscripts, typescripts, page proofs, metatext and relevant correspondence with editors, including the following sub-series:
Series consists of Watson's correspondence with others. It has been divided into two sub-series; namely:
Outgoing Correspondence
Incoming Correspondence
Correspondence that relates directly to Watson's writing, publishing, academic responsibilities, editorial projects and collaborations have been filed in appropriate series, namely Manuscripts and drafts series; Publishing and business correspondence; Professional activities material series; Teaching material series; and Student material series.
Series consists of correspondence, research materials and drafts related to Watson's role as an editor, contributor and consultant to the works of other publications, cultural bodies and creative efforts, all functions resulting from her professional role as an author and educator. The series is divided into 3 sub-series:
Editorial, collaborative and contributive materials.
Canada Council papers.
Public readings, interviews and conference material.
Series consists of four files containing materials created by Watson during her career as a student at the University of British Columbia and as a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto. This includes administrative documents, official correspondence, and front matter related to her Ph.D. thesis , "Wyndham Lewis and Expressionism: Icon Recognition: Configurations in the Flux". No documentation survives of Watson's primary or secondary school education, nor her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, including her M.A. thesis on Addison and Steele.
File list includes:
2006 01 705 Statement of marks from the University of British Columbia, 1950
2006 01 706 Correspondence and official documentation regarding doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, 1957 -1965
Series consists of legal and financial records accumulated by Watson in the course of her life, including royalties from her publishing, property deeds, last wills and testaments from family members, employment records, tax records, purchase invoices and receipts and other bills and financial information. Sub-series include:
Tax records and returns
Banking records and personal loans
Payments and honorariums
Pension and insurance records
Telephone records
Medical bills
Receipts and invoices for book dealers, art galleries and periodicals
Series consists of four-sub series containing materials created and generated by Watson during her career as a school teacher and as a university professor, including correspondence, course prospectus', student papers and exams, and lecture notes. This series also includes the material of Ph.D. candidates who were supervised by Watson after her retirement in August 1975. Sub-series include:
Series consists of materials created and accumulated by Watson in the course of her research for various creative and academic activities, as well as material preserved by Watson for her own personal reference. This includes 3 sub-series:
Series consists of ephemeral material accumulated by Watson in the course of her activities, including six photographs of unidentified persons and subjects, divided into four sub-series:
Ephemera and memorabilia collected in Paris
Blank postcards
Loose notes, uninfected photographs, jottings and ephemera
Series consists of 21 files of address books, diplomas, medals, awards and honorary degrees; artwork and drawings by herself and others; rosaries and other items and objects belonging to Sheila Watson.
File list includes:
Box 61
2006 01 952 Baptismal Certificate, 1909
2006 01 953 Address book [after 1957]
2006 01 954 Address book [between 1958 and 1961]
2006 01 955 Address book [after 1978]
2006 01 956 Address book [June 1961]
2006 01 957 Address book [after 1962]
2006 01 958 Address book [ca. 1979]
2006 01 959 Address book [between 1978 and 1979]
2006 01 960 Address book [ca. April 16, 1979]
2006 01 961 Address book [ca. 1981]
2006 01 962 Address book [after 1981]
2006 01 963 Address book [between 1985 and 1993]
Box 62
2006 01 964 Material regarding 1965 University of Toronto convocation, 1965
2006 01 965 Documents and award regarding Canada Silver Jubilee Medal, 1977
2006 01 966 Lorne Pierce Medal from the Royal Society of Canada, May 29, 1984
2006 01 967 Correspondence and certificate from the Federation of British Columbia Writers, 1987
2006 01 968 Honourary Degree, University of St. Michael's College, 1995
2006 01 969 Doherty and Martin family records
2006 01 970 Drawings and paintings by Sheila Watson [after 1948]
2006 01 971 Drawings and paintings by other artists belonging to Watson
2006 01 972 Personal effects and belongings [after 1941]
Sub-series consists of handwritten and typed drafts and manuscripts, metatext and relevant correspondence with editors related to Watson's two published novels, namely "Deep Hollow Creek" and "The Double Hook" and her unfinished unpublished novel "Landscape of the Moon". The files have been arranged by novel and then chronologically.
Sub-series consists of handwritten and typed drafts and manuscripts of four of Watson's six published short stories, namely "Brother Oedipus", "Antigone", "The Rumble Seat" and "And the four animals..." and five unpublished short stories, featuring the characters Hania, Oedipus, Eurydice, Orpheus, Daedalus and Aesop, and a fragment of literary prose fictionalizing her experiences in Paris. There is no surviving documentation of Watson's first published short story "Rough Answer", which appeared in The Canadian Forum 18: 212 (September 1938): 178-180, nor "The Black Farm (A Modern Allegory)", which was first published in Queen's Quarterly 63:2 (Summer 1954): 220-228. The files have been arranged chronologically, frequently relying on the publishing dates of the short stories.
Sub-series consists of four typescripts of a total of fourteen poems presumed to be Watson's. There is no surviving documentation of Watson's only published poem "The Barren Lands", (her name misspelled as "Theila Martin Doherty"), published in The Canadian Forum XV : 169 (October 1934): 20.
Sub-series consists of typed and handwritten research notes and draft manuscripts and typescripts related to 22 works of nonfiction, including articles she published about her academic research on Wyndham Lewis, and personal interest in art, as well as articles related to her role as an educator and professor of English, and reflections on her life as a writer. They have been arranged chronologically, frequently relying on the publication dates of individual pieces, and the publication dates of works cited by Watson. Many of the typescripts are tentatively attributed to Watson, as they do not contain any attributive annotations or comments by her and do not appear to have been published. Works that have been accurately dated to a particular conference or public reading have been filed under the Public readings and conference material sub-series of the Professional activities series. Works such as introductions, prefaces, endorsements and blurbs written by Watson for other authors and publications have been filed under the Editorial and collaborative materials sub-series of the Professional activities series. There does not appear to be any surviving documentation for four of Watson's published articles: "Swift and Ovid: The Development of Metasatire
Sub-series consists of one letter from T.G. Carter of the Office of Inspectors of Schools, Vancouver Block, regarding Watsons' resignation from the school in Powell River, B.C.
Sub-series consists of one file containing two notices of appointment of Watson as a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia for the 1949/50 and 1950/51 terms and a memo regarding examination returns.
Sub-series consists of files containing correspondence, administrative documentation, lecture materials and handouts, student papers and material from Ph.D. students relating to Watson's employment at the University of Alberta, as a professor of English.
Files include:
2006 01 714 University of Alberta administrative records, 1961 - 1975
2006 01 715 University of Alberta interdepartmental correspondence, 1967-1975
2006 01 716 University of Alberta correspondence post-retirement, 1978, 1984
2006 01 717 Lecture handouts, class lists and bibliographies, [between 1961 - 1975]
Sub-series consists of three files containing correspondence, administrative records and class lists regarding Watson's career as a teaching fellow at the University of Toronto during her doctoral studies, and as a Research Associate during the academic term of 1968-1969, where she and her husband Wilfred Watson were at the Centre for Culture and Technology at St. Michael's College. During her fellowship at the Centre, Watson acted as a teaching and general assistant to McLuhan, and he and his secretary frequently forwarded correspondence to her to manage and respond to.
Files include:
2006 01 711 Correspondence and administrative records from the University of Toronto, 1957 -1969
2006 01 712 Forwarded correspondence, reading lists and notes by Marshall McLuhan, 1968 - 1969
2006 01 713 Class lists for English 438 and English 1110, 1968-1969
Sub-series consists of two files containing correspondence and thesis material relating to the post-retirement supervision of thesis students by Watson.
Files include:
2006 01 727 Correspondence regarding the thesis examination of Shirley Swartz, 1976
2006 01 728 Manuscript of draft thesis by Hildegard Tiessen, 1980
Sub-series consists of one file containing banking and legal information regarding a personal loan from Sheila Watson. Material such as bank books, chequebook receipts and statement updates from the Bank of Montreal was deaccessioned as it did not contain material of significant evidential or informational value.
Sub-series consists of four files containing correspondence, payments and receipts relating to Watson's teachers pensions and life and property insurance policies.
Files include:
2006 01 866 Canada Pension Plan invoices 1983 - 1997
2006 01 867 Alberta Public Service Pension invoices and correspondence, 1966 - 1995
2006 01 868 Teacher's Pensions Fund (Province of British Columbia) correspondence, 1949, 1955
2006 01 869 Life and house insurance policies, 1961 - 1971
Sub-series consists of four files containing income receipts from various employers of Sheila Watson, as well as honorariums she received in payment of her professional activities as a writer and speaker.
Files include:
2006 01 862 Canada Council honorariums and grants
2006 01 863 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) honorariums and royalty receipts
2006 01 864 University of Alberta paychecks and employment records
2006 01 865 University of Toronto statements of earnings
Sub-series consists of three files of receipts and invoices from miscellaneous services and activities, including shipping invoices, purchase orders from mail order catalogues, photocopying and bindery bills, office supply rentals, grocery and vetrenary bills and bills for plumbers, furnace repairs and garden maintenance.
Files include:
2006 01 945 Freight and postal shipping invoices and receipts, 1949, 1967, 1991-1997
2006 01 946 Correspondence and invoices for purchases from Past Times 1995-1997
2006 01 947 Miscellaneous receipts and invoices 1967 - 1997
Sub-series consists of 72 files of receipts and invoices from book dealers, publishers, art dealers and periodicals regarding purchases by Watson of books, pamphlets, archival material, subscriptions and works of art. Also includes correspondence with art galleries regarding the loan of works owned by Watson and her husband for various exhibits, as well as tax receipts regarding financial support Watson gave to various small literary journals.
Files include:
Box 59
2006 01 872 Correspondence and receipts from Alan and Joan Tucker booksellers (Glouchestershire, England) 1964
2006 01 873 Correspondence and invoices from Alan Hancox Fine Books (Cheltenham, England) 1963, 1964, 1966
2006 01 874 Correspondence, receipts and invoices from Bay Press (Seattle, WA) 1985, 1988, 1990
2006 01 875 Invoice from Bernard Quaritch Ltd. antiquarian booksellers (London, England) 1970
2006 01 876 Correspondence and catalogue from Bernard Stone bookseller (London, England) 1967, 1969
2006 01 877 Correspondence, invoices and receipts from Bertram Rota Ltd., booksellers (London, England) 1959 - 1969
2006 01 878 Correspondence, invoices and receipts from Blackwell's booksellers (Oxford, England) 1966 - 1972
2006 01 879 Correspondence, invoices and receipts from the Bob Miller Book Room (Toronto, ON) 1986 - 1991
2006 01 880 Correspondence, invoices and receipts from the Bookstore on Bastion (Nanaimo, B.C.) 1991 - 1997
2006 01 881 Invoice from Calder and Boyars Ltd. publishers (London, England) 1967
2006 01 882 Correspondence from Cambridge University Press 1993
2006 01 883 Invoices and receipts from Coach House Press 1980, 1985, 1987, 1992
2006 01 884 Invoices from Copp Clark Publishing Company (Toronto, ON) 1967 -1968
2006 01 885 Invoices from CUP Services (Ithaca, NY) 1988
2006 01 886 Correspondence from dall'Oglio, editore (Milan, Italy) 1962
2006 01 887 Invoices from Donaldson and Company Books (Nanaimo, B.C.) 1986, 1990
2006 01 888 Invoices from Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd. (Scarborough, ON) 1967
2006 01 889 Invoices from Harvard University Press, 1994
2006 01 890 Correspondence from Watson to Human Development Corporation (New York, NY) 1969
2006 01 891 Receipts regarding purchases from J. Howard Woolmer Books 1967
2006 01 892 Correspondence, invoices and receipts from James Thin booksellers (Edinburgh, Scotland) 1964, 1968
2006 01 893 Correspondence and receipts from Lapis Press (Venice, CA) 1989 -1991
2006 01 894 Invoices from Laurie Hill Limited Rare Books and Manuscripts (Montreal, Quebec) 1964 - 1965
2006 01 895 Invoices and receipts from Longspoon Press (Edmonton, Alta.) 1983
2006 01 896 Correspondence from Loyola University Press (Chicago, IL) 1987
2006 01 897 Invoices and receipts from McClelland and Stewart 1992 - 1994
2006 01 904 Invoices from Richard West, bookseller (Philadelphia, PA) 1964
2006 01 905 Invoice from The Scholar's Bookshelf (Princeton Junction, NJ) 1984
2006 01 906 Invoices from St. George's Gallery Books Limited (London, England) 1964-1965, 1968, 1970
2006 01 907 Invoice from Talon Books (Vancouver, B.C.) 1993
2006 01 908 Invoice from the University of Chicago Press 1988
2006 01 909 Invoices from the University of Toronto Press 1990
2006 01 910 Invoice regarding purchase from University Press Books 1988
2006 01 911 Invoice and receipt from Vanderbilt University Press (Nashville, TN) 1967
2006 01 912 Invoices and receipts from unidentified book sellers 1964, 1967, 1973, 1990
2006 01 913 Correspondence from Graphica art gallery (Edmonton, Alta) 1980
2006 01 914 Correspondence, loan agreement and conservation treatment report regarding loan of Molly Lamb Bobak painting to Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina 1991- 1996
2006 01 915 Correspondence from Calgary Allied Arts Council and the Carnegie Institute Department of Fine Arts (Pittsburgh, PA) regarding loan of Jack Shadbolt painting 1955
2006 01 916 Correspondence from d'Offay Couper Gallery (London, England) regarding purchase of Wyndham Lewis drawing, 1973
2006 01 917 Correspondence from Glenbow Museum (Calgary, Alta.) regarding loan of Jack Shadbolt paintings, 1990 - 1991
2006 01 918 Correspondence from Jerrold Morris Gallery (Toronto, ON) regarding purchase of Jack Shadbolt drawing, 1968
2006 01 919 Correspondence from the National Gallery of Canada regarding loan of Jack Shadbolt drawing and purchase of study by Michael Ayrton, [before 1971]
2006 01 920 Receipt from Vancouver Art Gallery regarding purchase of Molly Bobak painting and Jack Shadbolt exhibition, 1951, 1969
Sub-series consists of three files regarding the wills of various individuals and estates of whom Watson was executrix, or where Watson was a beneficiary.
Files include:
2006 01 949 Correspondence and will regarding the estate of Dr. M.A.D. (Agatha) Myatt, 1965
2006 01 950 Correspondence, legal documents and will of the estate of Mary Ida Elwena Doherty and sale of Doherty home 1980 - 1985
2006 01 951 Correspondence and will of the estate of Helen Ruth Humphrey 1985
Sub-series consists of one file of maps, newspaper clippings, guidebooks, theatre programmes, tickets, and governmental documents collected and preserved by Watson from her year spent with her husband in Paris.
Sub-series consists of one file of blank postcards collected by Watson. Most of the postcards depict Parisian landmarks, holdings from the Louvre, renaissance portraiture, religious art, modern art and several duplicated versions of postcards from The Coach House Press.
Sub-series consists of one file of unidentified photographs, loose notes, contact information, jottings and general ephemera. Including: 1) a corner of an envelope with the message, Dear Sheila, Saw the Tate and thought of you. Dale W. The writer is Dale Wilkie, a professor at the University of Alberta; 2.) a strip of cardboard with two silver triangles, signed 'omoon', the nick-name of B. J. Mitchell, Sheila Watson's niece.
Sub-series consists of one file of loose notes, letters, dustjackets, promotional material and other assorted ephemera found in volumes of the Watson library collection. Each piece of ephemera is linked to the individual library volume.
File consists of correspondence from Stan Dragland on behalf of Applegarth Follies, a journal based in London, Ontario, soliciting Watson for book reviews.
File consists of correspondence from Anne Brodsky, Shirley Gibson and Barry Lord, on behalf of the magazine artscanada (formerly Canadian Art magazine), regarding a special issue on Wyndham Lewis written by Watson. Also includes two advance copies of the issue, the publishing contract, and a letter from Lewis' widow, Anne Wyndham Lewis.
File consists of a letter from Dudley H. Cloud of The Atlantic Monthly Press (Boston, MA) regarding her submission of "The Double Hook" for publication.
File consists of a letter from Jerome Agel, on behalf of books/, a newspaper based in New York City, soliciting an article on Wyndham Lewis from Watson.
File consists of correspondence from Margaret V. Hill, editor of the Dictionary of Literary Biography, on behalf of Bruccoli Clark Inc. (Columbia, S.C.), requesting biographical information from Watson.
File consists of a letter from Barbara Freeze on behalf of The Canadian National Institute for the Blind, regarding Watson's agreement to allow "The Double Hook" to be freely transcribed into sound recordings and braille.
File consists of two versions of a letter from Pierre Coupey, editor of The Capilano Review, thanking Watson for her permission to publish her work, and a letter from Daphne Marlatt, associate editor, regarding Watson's interview that was published in the periodical.
File consists of correspondence from George Woodcock, editor of the periodical Canadian Literature, soliciting articles and book reviews regarding Wyndham Lewis, and requesting Watson's opinions of potential contributors.
File consists of correspondence from Isabel Duque on behalf of Casa Canada, the Canadian Centre for Development and Culture, based in Santiago, Chile, and Lake Sagaris, regarding the translation of Watson's "Antigone" into Spanish for a short story anthology.
File consists of correspondence from Stan Bevington, Sarah Evans, Carolyn Guertin, Clifford James, Margaret McClintock, Karen Mac Cormack, David McFadden, Sarah Sheard and Karen Shook on behalf of Coach House Press, regarding royalty statements and reprint premissions regarding her short story collections published by the press, as well as solications for her translations of Madeleine Ferron's stories and correspondence from HBJ-Holt, Heather Jones, Lester & Orpen Dennys, Gerald Lynch, regarding publishing rights forwarded to Watson by Coach House staff. Also includes a page of editorial corrections by Watson of the 1985 edition of "Five Stories".