Manuscript Collection MS COLL 00119 - James Mavor Papers

Identity area

Reference code

CA OTUTF MS COLL 00119

Title

James Mavor Papers

Date(s)

  • 1862-1925 (Creation)

Level of description

Manuscript Collection

Extent and medium

78 boxes and items (29.3 metres)

Context area

Name of creator

(1854-1925)

Biographical history

James Mavor, economist, economic historian and professor of political economy. He was born 8 December 1854 in Stranraer, Scotland. He attended the University of Glasgow and taught economy and statistics at St. Mungo’s College in Glasgow. He became involved in socialist groups as a means to assist the poor, and became acquainted with William Morris and George Bernard Shaw. Ultimately, his knowledge of economics led him to reject Marxist ideals. In 1892, he became the first professor of political economy at the University of Toronto, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1923. Between 1898 and 1899, Mavor was instrumental in bringing the Doukhobors to Canada. Mavor held many professional and personal interests, including economic history, Russian studies and the arts. He assisted in the founding of the Art Museum of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum, and authored several books including Economic History of Russia (1914), Niagara in Politics: A Critical Account of the Ontario Hydroelectric Commission (1925) and his memoirs, My Windows on the Street of the World (1923). James Mavor died in 1925.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Correspondence with notable people such as Robert Falconer, Petr Kropotkin, Stephen Leacock, Peter Veregin; drafts for articles and books, notes, notebooks, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/stack-retrieval-request

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Uploaded finding aid

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

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Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

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Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Description control area

Description identifier

CA OTUTF MS COLL00119

Institution identifier

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

Rules and/or conventions used

Dates of creation revision deletion

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Script(s)

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Accession area

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