For the day, the very first poem in Mary Morgan's very first collection of verse, Poems and Translations (Montreal: J. Theo. Robinson, 1887).
The poem appears on page three. This features on page 51:
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| Henry Morgan & Co., Montreal, 1890. |
I've yet to find a third, but not for want of effort. Mary Morgan is a fascinating figure. Raised in privilege, she was a member of the Montreal department store dynasty. Miss Morgan intended to study medicine at McGill University only to be denied entry owing to her sex. According to Types of Canadian Women (Toronto: William Briggs, 1903), it was after this rejection that she "devoted herself entirely to literature."
Mary Morgan produced six more volumes of verse. Her last book, Glimpses Into the Letters of a Wanderer (London: Elkin Matthews, 1914) was an autobiography. I've never seen a copy. WorldCat tells me that the nearest volume is held by Oxford University, a touch over 5313 kilometers away. Cambridge also has a copy, as does the British Library.
I refuse to believe that the book isn't to be found outside England, and so ask Westmount friends to check the attics of their respective family homes. Let's see what we can do to flesh out Mary Morgan's Database of Canada's Early Women Writers entry this year.
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