Historical Picture Collection

John Ross Robertson (1841-1918) was founder and publisher of the Toronto Telegram, a major philanthropist of the Hospital for Sick Children, and a serious collector. He built a collection of more than 4,000 pictures and pictorial material illustrating the history of Canada. His generous donation to the Toronto Public Library in 1910 has become known as the J. Ross Robertson Collection and began our Historical Picture Collection.

The Collection Today

The collection lives in the Special Collections, Genealogy and Maps Centre of the Toronto Reference Library. It has grown to approximately 15,000 paintings, drawings and prints, 50,000 photographs and more than 3,000 postcards.

There is a rich collection of images depicting Toronto from its 1793 founding as the town of York through the 1920s. The works of well known artists are represented, including:

• William Armstrong
• John Fleming
• William G. R. Hind
• C.H.J. Snider
• Anne Langton

For Your Research

You can access the Historical Picture Collection through the card file in the Special Collections Centre's reading room, or through the printed catalogue to the J. Ross Robertson Collection, Landmarks of Canada. Just ask the staff in the Special Collections Centre.

Many Toronto related images can be viewed online in:

For reproductions of images, please contact our Photographic Services.

Baldwin Room / Broadsides and Printed Ephemera / Books, Pamphlets, Periodicals / Manuscripts / Newspapers

Updated on: March 15, 2004