The opening of Preface
It is now thirty-three years since the first volume of biographies bearing the title “Representative Canadians” was issued by the present firm of publishers. In 1886 the scope of the work was unique, so far as this country was concerned, for previous volumes of the kind had confined themselves to the careers of Canadians who have won fame in either a political or military capacity. The aim of the editors of the first volume of “Representative Canadians” was to give recognition of the emergence of Canada from a colonial to something like a national status by recording something of the achievements of those who had contributed to the intellectual, industrial and commercial growth of the country, as well as of its political leaders. The purpose remained the same in the second volume published in 1888, and is once more the impulse of the present book.