Tag: James Carswell

Victoria Bookseller James Carswell and the Mythical Connection with Toronto’s Carswell Legal Publishing
Victoria

Victoria Bookseller James Carswell and the Mythical Connection with Toronto’s Carswell Legal Publishing

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I was recently contacted by someone who is writing a biography of Robert Carswell, founder of the legal-publishing firm Carswell Company in Toronto in the mid-1860s. She wondered, just as I once did, if there was any connection between her subject and my Victoria bookseller James Carswell, a partner in Hibben & Carswell from 1858 to… Continue reading Victoria Bookseller James Carswell and the Mythical Connection with Toronto’s Carswell Legal Publishing

The Irrepressible James Carswell of Hibben & Carswell, Victoria
Victoria

The Irrepressible James Carswell of Hibben & Carswell, Victoria

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I just received this image of James Carswell, Thomas Hibben’s early bookselling partner in Victoria, from the Royal BC Museum and Archives. Newly digitized from a plate glass negative, it is the only one I have found so far of James. I felt a rush at finally seeing the face of someone from the distant… Continue reading The Irrepressible James Carswell of Hibben & Carswell, Victoria

Thomas Napier Hibben Starts One of Victoria’s Longest-Running Bookstores
Victoria

Thomas Napier Hibben Starts One of Victoria’s Longest-Running Bookstores

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When Thomas Napier Hibben opened his bookstore in Victoria in October 1858 (buying out William Kierski’s establishment on Yates Street), he likely could not have imagined that he was starting one of the longest-running bookstores in Victoria’s history. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1827, Hibben had already amassed several years’ experience as a bookseller in San Francisco… Continue reading Thomas Napier Hibben Starts One of Victoria’s Longest-Running Bookstores