Original Name
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Institution Type
Library

Country
Canada

Description
The Fisher Library book and manuscript collections are many and diverse, with a corrresponding variety of online and printed tools providing intellectual access to the contents, in varying degrees of detail. The purpose of all these tools is to facilitate access to the collections. As a further step in this direction the Library has also embarked on a number of digitization projects, which bring the resources of the Library to a world-wide audience. All of our digital projects provide both page images, enhanced indexing features, and the capability to conduct full text searching on the contents of the documents themselves.
The collections are many and varied, reflecting the wide diversity of research conducted at the University of Toronto by its own faculty and students, visiting scholars, and the general public. Chronologically, the range is from a 1789 B.C. Babylonian cuneiform tablet from Ur, to original drafts and printed works of contemporary Canadian writers. Among the oldest printed books in the collection are the Concilium zu Constencz, printed in Augsburg in 1483, with hand-coloured woodcuts, four of which illustrate the martyrdom of Jan Hus; the Compost et Kalendrier des bergeres, an almanac printed in Paris in 1499; and a copy of Johannes Balbus's Catholicon, printed in the 1460s, possibly by Johann Gutenberg.
The Fisher Library is actively involved in digitization in order to increase access to our print and manuscript collections. All of our projects provide both page images, enhanced indexing features, and the capability to conduct full text searching on the contents of the documents themselves.
"Petlice" collection has approximately 600 titles in both Czech and Slovak. Access can be obtained through the University of Toronto Libraries' on-line catalogue, using call number search. Location is "Thomas Fisher"; shelving scheme is "as is" and location code is "pet".

ISRA Affiliation Level
subscriber