Table Of ContentTHE INGLORIOUS ARTS OF PEACE
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The Inglorious Arts of Peace
Exhibitions in
Canadian Society during the
Nineteenth Century
E.A. HEAMAN
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1999
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-4272-4 (cloth)
Printed on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Heaman, Elsbeth, 1964-
The inglorious arts of peace : exhibitions in Canadian society
during the nineteenth century
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 08020-4272-4
l. Exhibitions - Canada - History - 19th century. I. Title.
T395-5-C3H42 1999 907-4'71 c98-931769-2
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and
Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publish-
ing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 3
1 The Theory of the Exhibition: An Overview 10
Part One: Exhibitions in Central Canada
2 The Early History of Exhibitions in Canada, 1789-1837 31
3 Exhibitions as Politics in Central Canada, 1841-1891 52
4 The Provincial Exhibitions and Economic Development,
1846-1893 79
5 Exhibition Culture 106
Part Two: Canada at the International Exhibitions
6 International Exhibitions and Canadian Nationality, 1851-1867 141
7 Exhibitions in Europe after Confederation and the
Commodification of Canada 182
8 Exhibitions in America after Confederation and the
Commodification of Everything 218
Part Three: Exhibitions and Identities
9 Women and the Political Economy of Exhibitions 259
10 Making a Spectacle: Exhibitions of the First Nations 285
Conclusion 311
vi Contents
Appendix: Tables 317
Notes 325
Note on Sources 395
Illustration Credits 397
Index 399
A cknowledgments
It is with considerable gratitude and relief that I acknowledge the many
people who assisted me in writing this book. Above all, I thank Michael
Bliss, who supervised my research as a doctoral student. His encourage-
ment throughout the long years together, and his thoughtful criticisms of
my thesis, made its completion possible, but it is from his own example as
a historian and teacher that I have learned the most. Paul Rutherford and
Allan Greer also served on the thesis committee and offered lively debate
and penetrating criticisms. Examiners Carolyn Strange and H.V. Nelles
made some important suggestions that influenced the revisions. I would
also like to thank Clifford Orwin, who kindly allowed me to attend his
remarkable seminars in political philosophy. Suzanne Zeller's book Invent-
ing Canada originally inspired this project, and her seminar on science in
Victorian Canada confirmed my interest. At McGill University, John Zucchi
supervised the initial research paper and encouraged me to continue. For
five years George Weisz showed me how to do rigorous intellectual history;
I wish I had been a better pupil.
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada sup-
ported my research with a doctoral fellowship, for which I am deeply
grateful. The history department at the University of Toronto provided
funding in the way of scholarships and teaching assistantships that permit-
ted me to complete the dissertation, and it provided a congenial atmo-
sphere in which to work.
Gerry Hallowell of University of Toronto Press invited me to submit the
manuscript, and he, Emily Andrew, Rosemary Shipton, and Darlene Zeleney
helped me to make it publishable. I was particularly fortunate in the
choice of readers for the Press and the Humanities and Social Sciences
Federation: Their comments have greatly strengthened the manuscript.
viii Acknowledgments
Bridgit Schroeder-Gudehus took an interest in the project and made some
important suggestions. Paige Raibmon and Ruth Philips made comments
on reading chapter 10, and the latter showed me her unpublished work.
Donald Fyson, Valerie Korinek, and Keith Walden also commented on
chapter 9. That chapter appears as an article in the December 1997 issue of
the Canadian Historical Review, and I am grateful to the Review for permis-
sion to publish it here.
Librarians and archivists provided crucial assistance. At the National
Archives of Canada, Patricia Kennedy explained the bureaucratic mind to
me, blazing a trail through the maze of pre-Confederation documenta-
tion, and Martin Tètreault guided me through Record Group 17. In
Quebec City, Renauld Lessard helped me with the Quebec government
archives; in Toronto, Leon Wormski did the same for the Ontario ar-
chives; and in London, England, Anne Barrett introduced me to the
archives at Imperial College. The Atwater Library allowed me to consult
the Montreal Mechanics' Institute Papers, and I am also grateful to the
Marquess of Lansdowne and Madame Bonar for permission to consult
family papers. At the University of Toronto, Marie Korey opened up to me
the Ruari McLean Collection at Massey College, which contains many
splendid and beautiful books relating to the Great Exhibition; the staff at
Robarts Library, and especially the Fisher Rare Books Room, Inter-Library
Loan service, Microfilm Reading Room, and Government Documents,
were helpful, efficient, and friendly. I am also grateful to librarians at the
Salle Gagnon in Montreal and the Baldwin Room in Toronto.
The personal debts are too numerous to mention, but I am particularly
grateful to Raina, William, and Karen Fyson, who housed me on research
trips and took a cordial interest in my work. Donald Fyson and Sovita
Chander have been colleagues and friends throughout, and I owe Don in
particular a great deal for his practical help and intellectual prodding.
Valerie Korinek and Robin Brownlie propped me up during the PhD
program and beyond. My new colleagues David Edgerton, Rob Iliffe, Lara
Marks, and Andy Warwick have sharpened my understanding of history
and make Imperial College an exciting place to work.
This book is gratefully dedicated to my parents. My mother proofread
the entire manuscript and my father helped me with its preparation. My
debt to them is, of course, much more profound than that.
THE INGLORIOUS ARTS OF PEACE
