____________________________________________
Victoria University Library Special Collections home
 

About the Collection
 
1. Introduction to the Collection
 

James Evans (1801-1846) was a Methodist minister, author, translator and developer of the Cree syllabic alphabet. Among the materials in the collection are correspondence and literary material, including articles, poems, and page proofs. Evans' notebooks and his "Cree Syllabic Hymnbook", a western Canadian "incunable", is of significant interest to researchers of native North American history.

 

2. Accessing the Collection

There are two ways to access the collection:
Cree Syllabic Hymn Book (1841)
James Evans, Cree Syllabic Hymn Book
(Norway House:1841) and original type cast at
Norway House.
 
2.1 University of Toronto Catalogue
Contains published items by and about Evans held in the entire University of Toronto Libraries system, including items in the collections at Victoria University Library. There are electronic texts available - please see selected resources below.
 

2.2 Guide to the James Evans Papers
A detailed finding aid for manuscript and transcript materials contained in the James Evans fonds.

 
Related Special Collections at Victoria University Library

Peter Jones
Related Exhibitions at Victoria University Library

Canadian Heritage at Victoria University Library

Related Resources

 
Electronic items marked are licensed for use by members of the University of Toronto community; use by others may be restricted. Items marked are for use in Victoria University Libraries only.


The following resources are from Early Canadiana Online:

The Speller and Interpreter, in Indian and English: For the Use of the Mission Schools, and Such as May Desire to Obtain a Knowledge of the Ojibway Tongue... by James Evans.

A Collection of Chippeway and English Hymns for the Use of the Native Indians... by James Evans.

James Evans, Inventor of the Syllabic System of the Cree Language... by John Maclean.

The Man Who Made Birch Bark Talk ... by Irene Craig. Manitoba Pageant, Vol. 4, No. 2, January 1959, p. [?].
Profile of Rev. James Evans who designed a Cree syllabics system.

Cloven Hoof: Historical Drama and the Construction of Narrative Theology ... by Geoffrey Wilfong-Pritchard
Theology Thesis (D.Min.)--St. Stephen's College, 1999. Doctoral dissertation based on life of missionary James Evans.

Making Birch Bark Talk ... by Ross Mitchell MD. Manitoba Pageant, January 1964, Volume 9, Number 2.
Describes how Rev. James Evans came to invent Cree syllabics for the use of his students at Norway House.

The Rossville Scandal, 1846: James Evans, the Cree, and a Mission on Trial ... by Raymond Morris Shirritt-Beaumont
History Thesis (M.A.)--The University of Manitoba/University of Winnipeg, 2001.

A Collection of Chippeway and English Hymns, for the Use of the Native Indians. Translated by Peter Jones ... To Which are Added a Few Hymns Translated by the Rev. James Evans and George Henry ... from the Making of America Collection from the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service.

Case and his Cotemporaries, or, The Canadian Itinerants' Memorial: Constituting a Biographical History of Methodism in Canada, from its Introduction into the Province, till the Death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855
John Carroll, in Early Canadiana Online

By Canoe and Dog Train among the Cree and Salteaux Indians Egerton R.Young (Egerton Ryerson), in Early Canadiana Online

Canadian Savage Folk: The Native Tribes of Canada Maclean, John in Early Canadiana Online


Please contact a reference librarian if you require any assistance using the above tools, or if you have any questions about the collection.

updated 16 February 2006.