The Library of Major General Sir Isaac Brock

The dramatic circumstances of Isaac Brock’s death – shot in the heart as he rushed up a hill occupied by the enemy, conspicuous by his splendid red uniform and his height of six feet two – have overshadowed what is known of his life. Born into a prosperous family in Guernsey in 1769 he entered the army in 1785. Before his regiment, the 49th, was ordered to Canada in 1802 he had served in England and the West Indies and had seen action in north Holland in 1799 and with Nelson’s squadron in 1801. Promoted major general in 1811, Brock was president and administrator of the government of Upper Canada as well as military commander of the province. A bachelor, he turned 43 a week before his death at Queenston Heights on 13 October 1812. A final honour was granted in England just four days earlier when he was knighted in recognition of his victory at Detroit in August.

Brock’s fame as the hero of Upper Canada has been built page by page. As C.P. Stacey wryly notes in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, ‘The power of the Brock legend in Canada is reflected in the fact that no important known documents concerning his Canadian activities seem to have escaped publication.’ The basic collection was compiled early, by his nephew: F.B. Tupper The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock (London, 1847).

One document which appears to have escaped publication (but not notice) is a fifteen-page estate inventory drawn up after Brock’s death and now located in the William Allan Papers in the Baldwin Room, Toronto Reference Library. Robert Malcomson cites it in Burying General Brock (1996) and one page is reproduced in History of the Book in Canada (2004). The first seven pages itemize goods purchased from Brock’s estate in November 1812, primarily by Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, his successor in civil and military command. Brock’s cousin Captain James Brock and Captain John Glegg, an aide-de-camp, bought more modestly. Some 170 lots of ‘Furniture &c’ confirm the general’s reputation for hospitality with mahogany and cut glass, damask for the table, and a Brussels carpet in the drawing room. His cellar held more than 560 bottles of port-wine, 48 of claret, and 24 of Quebec ale, as well as champagne, brandy, and porter, while the pantry was stocked with Hyson tea, green coffee, savoury condiments, and preserved fruits.

Two years earlier, in July 1810 when Brock was ordered to Upper Canada, he confided to a sister-in-law his regret at leaving Quebec where he had been stationed since 1806. He had there ‘the most delightful garden imaginable, with abundance of melons and other good things’ and he hesitated about moving his household: ‘Unless I take up every thing with me, I shall be miserably off, for nothing beyond eatables is to be had there; and in case I provide the requisites to make my abode in the winter in any way comfortable, and then be ordered back, the expense will be ruinous’ (Tupper 79-80).

On 14 January 1813 the ‘Effects of the late Major General Brock’ were sold at auction. The sale opened with his library, followed by silver, furniture, pieces of harness and a gig, 17 sets of window curtains, and 15 sheep. His library consisted of 38 titles, many in sets, totalling more than 150 volumes, together with periodicals and one ‘Lot of books.’ Literary works included sets of Sterne, Pope, and Johnson, two sets of Shakespeare, 32 volumes in all, and another 5 volumes of plays. Among the classics we find Horace and Virgil, both in 4 volumes; rounding out the ancients are 12 volumes of Rollin’s Ancient History and 6 of Plutarch. Most of Brock’s military books were French, including Guibert’s Oeuvres militaires, probably the Paris edition of 1803. As well as Voltaire on Henry IV and the age of Louis XIV, he had memoirs of Condé and Talleyrand.

Since entries in the inventory are cryptic, old friends may emerge through a search. “Wolfs Orders” is surely General Wolfe’s Instructions to Young Officers; Also His Orders… while “Expedition to Holland” would be A Narrative of the Expedition to Holland in the Autumn of the Year 1799 by surgeon Edward Walsh of the 49th who served there with Brock and is remembered for his painting of the town of York in 1803.

Some of Brock’s books may have been sent by his brothers in response to letters such as one to Irving, himself an author, dated at Niagara on 10 January 1811: ‘I wish you to send me some choice authors in history, particularly ancient, with maps, and the best translations of ancient works. I read in my youth Pope’s translation of Homer but till lately never discovered its exquisite beauties. As I grow old I acquire a taste for study.’ Others he may have bought at Quebec where John Neilson, printer and bookseller, carried on a family business established in 1764. We know from his advertisements and catalogues that he stocked a substantial number of the titles in Brock’s library: Court Calendar, Edinburgh Review, European Magazine, Elegant Extracts, Johnson’s Dictionary, Whitelock’s trial, Murray’s and various French grammars, and standard literary works.

Whatever the source, Brock was an attentive reader who valued his library: ‘I read much, but good books are scarce, and I hate borrowing. I like to read a book quickly, and afterwards revert to such passages as have made the deepest impression, and which appear to me most important to remember – a practice I cannot conveniently pursue unless the book be mine’ (Tupper 88).

When Brock’s books came on the market in January 1813, ten buyers divided the collection. Although the military was represented by officers such as Major Alexander Clerk of the 49th who carried off Walsh, Shakespeare, and MacArthur on courts martial, the most active buyers were prominent citizens of York: William Allan, George Crookshank, Edward McMahon, and the Reverend John Strachan. This last purchaser is of particular interest because many of his books are now in the Strachan Collection at the library of Trinity College, University of Toronto. Among them is one of the six titles he bought at the Brock sale, The Works of Samuel Johnson (London 1810) in twelve volumes. Although they bear no mark linking them to Isaac Brock, the signature on each title page (one volume is missing) of John Strachan above the date ‘Jany. 1813’ is strong evidence that Brock’s library has not been entirely lost.

Patricia Fleming