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U of T acquires letters of General James Wolfe

The University of Toronto has purchased the letters of Major-General James Wolfe for $1.5 million. The newest acquisition to the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library contains 70 per cent of Wolfe’s correspondence, detailing his life up until his death at the battle of the Plains of Abraham, which led to Britain’s conquest of North America. […]

By Sarah Niedoba — Published November 25, 2013

The University of Toronto has purchased the letters of Major-General James Wolfe for $1.5 million. The newest acquisition to the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library contains 70 per cent of Wolfe’s correspondence, detailing his life up until his death at the battle of the Plains of Abraham, which led to Britain’s conquest of North America.

They total 233 letters written between the years 1740–1759. The letters were held by a British family since the death of Wolfe’s mother in 1764. Most of the funds for the purchase were provided by Helmhorst Investments, a Toronto-based company, with help from U of T Libraries and the Movable Cultural Property Directorate of Canadian Heritage.

British historians attempted to keep the letters in Britain, with the British culture minister imposing a two-month ban on the export of the letters. However, without a serious bidder from Britain coming forward, the approval to ship the letters to Canada came on September 30, 2013.

With files from The Globe and Mail

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