This bibliography and its accompanying print volume provide a comprehensive record of the children’s books published by Brunswick Press of Fredericton, New Brunswick in the years 1952–84. Founded in 1950–51 by Brigadier John Michael Stewart Wardell and with funding and support from Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Brunswick Press published a wide range of books for all ages and audiences. The company set out to be a fine book press with a threefold mission: to republish out-of-print Canadian and British titles; to introduce leading British writers to Canadian readers; and to publish contemporary Canadian authors—New Brunswick authors in particular.
From the outset, children’s books were a key component of the business. The content of these books ranges from regional to national to cosmopolitan. They include stories set in New Brunswick, non-fiction works of Canadian history, and nursery rhymes and folk/fairy tales. Most of them are set apart from the press’s adult catalogue by the presence of illustrations that are remarkable in both design and quality. During its thirty-odd-year history, Brunswick Press made significant contributions to children’s reading and produced remarkable children’s books. The press’s place in Canadian children’s publishing history is little known but significant, given the press’s early adoption of four-colour offset printing.
--Susan R. Fisher and Margot Stafford, compilers and editors
Acknowledgements
This project would never have been completed without the support and generosity of many organizations and individuals. Thank you to Jocelyne Thompson and the New Brunswick Bibliography Series Editorial Board, Andrew Steeves and his staff at Gaspereau Press, and Tony Tremblay and Doug Vipond for their editorial assistance. We are grateful for the institutional support of the Eileen Wallace Children’s Literature Collection and the Eileen Wallace Research Fellowship. We would also like to thank the Bibliographical Society of Canada and its Marie Tremaine Fellowship for financial support. The electronic version of this bibliography owes thanks to James MacKenzie and the Systems Team at UNB Libraries, as well as to Carla Daniela Carvajal Herrero for data input. Additional acknowledgements can be found in the print volume, Beaver Books for a Dime: A Bibliographic History of the Children's Books of Brunswick Press, 1952-1984, Gaspereau Press, 2022.