Samuel Johnson Collection McMaster University, Mills Memorial Library Subjects Johnson, Samuel; English literature History Established ca 1965, this collection is part of the Eighteenth Century Collection. The collection developed slowly for the first few years. The Barry Brown Collection, with significant material on Johnson, was acquired in 1969. A grant in 1981 and the 1985 acquisition of the A.G. Rippey Collection have helped build the collection. Description The collection is the strongest Samuel Johnson collection in Canada. It includes first and variant editions of many of Johnson's works; items to which he contributed; and commentaries and criticisms of his work. The collection is particularly strong in eighteenth century editions and translations, with reasonably strong holdings in nineteenth century editions. Manuscript material is excluded. Present acquisition policy is to acquire all Johnson material when available. Language English, French, and selected foreign language material. Holdings 400-450 monographs. Bibliographic Access The collection is catalogued in the Eighteenth Century Collection card catalogue. LC subject headings are used. The collection is not classified and is arranged according to internal shelving location numbers. The holdings records are currently being converted to the library's online catalogue. Special bibliographies include an annotated copy of William Prideaux Courtney and David Nichol Smith's A bibliography of Samuel Johnson. Physical Access The collection is in a special collections area which is open to the public. For further information about the collection visit: http://library.lib.mcmaster.ca/cat-coll/coll/policies/rc.htm. For information about access to the collection visit: http://library.lib.mcmaster.ca/archives/readyweb.htm. Interlibrary Loan: Only to selected libraries on IUTS. Reprography: Photocopying is done by the staff. Reference Assistance: Yes. Publications Describing Collection None at present.