Bruce Peel Special Collections

William Antony Swithin (Bill) Sarjeant, geologist, paleontologist, bibliophile and bibliographer, novelist, folklorist, Sherlockian scholar, and heritage advocate, was a professor of Geology at the University of Saskatchewan from 1972 until his death in 2002. His research work initially focused on the study of marine microfossils and the history of the earth sciences, and later expanded to include the study of fossil footprints. A bibliophile and collector by nature, Sarjeant amassed a collection of approximately 70,000 books on a range of subjects, including the history of science, children's literature, speculative fiction, detective fiction, transportation, and travel literature. He donated his collection to the University of Alberta Library over a period of time, beginning in 1996. The most important of his collections, the Sarjeant History of Science Collection, includes over 7,000 titles which explore the history of geology and related earth sciences, and is noted for bringing together resources which provide a context within which the growth of the field of geological science can be traced. The collection is the foundation of Sarjeant’s landmark ten-volume bibliography: Geologists and the History of Geology: An International Bibliography (1980-1996). Only the rare books in this collection are housed in Bruce Peel Special Collections; the majority of the collection is disbursed, by subject, among various libraries at University of Alberta. View the collection brochure here.

Collection Formats: 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Books -- click to see other collections with this format