The Visible Past
The Pictorial History of Simcoe County
by Adelaide Leitch
Although this is the story of one county in Ontario, it covers facets universal in Canadian growth: road-building, land-clearing, the development of health and educational services, and the progress and dreams of the people themselves. The story, from "Indian times" up to the present atomic age, is told in more than 500 illustrations and captions.
Some of the events that have taken place in the Simcoe County area have echoed around the world, most famous, probably, being the Martyrdom of the Jesuit Fathers in 1649. The grimly realistic portrayal of the torture-death of Father Jean de Brebeuf is by the Spanish master Fransisco Goya, an old masterpiece reproduced here in its first book publication in North America. Widely exhibited in Europe, but little known in Canada, the original painting is in France.
Mood and subject are varied. The book also contains a Karsh picture of Stephen Leacock at work at Brewery Bay, along with the original whimsical sketches that accompanied first publication of the immortal 'Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" in serial form in 1912.
This is a book that may be picked up for enjoyment, read straight through or a piece at a time. It will also be of lasting value to the student of history, providing as it does, a visual source of historical detail.
Hardcover with jacket ; jacket is in poor condition with tearing to the edges (see photo) book is in good condition ; 305 pages ; faint musty smell ; inside pages appear clean ; black & white photos throughout ; tight binding