The L.M. Montgomery Library is a set of volumes, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre and published by University of Toronto Press, that collects L.M. Montgomery’s extensive periodical work for her worldwide readership in the twenty-first century. This multivolume series will affirm Montgomery’s rightful place as one of Canada’s most prolific, imaginative, and beloved literary icons. Each volume is supplemented by a preface, an afterword, and annotations that provide context for all readers. A volume of selected writings, a volume of selected poems, and a volume of selected stories are available now, while volumes of Montgomery’s collected stories and collected poems, organized chronologically, are in progress.
- The L.M. Montgomery Library at L.M. Montgomery Online
- The L.M. Montgomery Library at University of Toronto Press
“Lefebvre’s work on these volumes, to say nothing of his other Montgomery-related projects, demonstrates an intellectual curiosity and a commitment to scholarship in early Canadian literature that will guide students and scholars of Montgomery’s work for years to come.”
—Ceilidh Hart, Canadian Literature
Available Now
A Name for Herself: Selected Writings, 1891–1917 (2018). xxvi + 454 pp.
Synopsis: This volume collects a selection of so-called miscellaneous pieces that L.M. Montgomery published over a twenty-five-year period, particularly during the early years of her career, at which point she tested out several authorial identities before settling on the professional moniker “L.M. Montgomery.” The afterword discusses these items in relation to the works of English-speaking women writers who preceded her and the strategies they used to succeed, including the decision to publish under gender-neutral signatures.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487519308
Paratexts: Preface (xv–xxiv), “A Note on the Text” (xxv–xxvi), twenty-three headnotes (5,900 words), afterword (313–40), notes (341–420), index (439–54).
Reception: Reviewed in Canadian Literature, Times Literary Supplement, University of Toronto Quarterly, and Victorian Periodicals Review.
A World of Songs: Selected Poems, 1894–1921 (2019). xx + 140 pp.
Synopsis: This volume gathers a selection of fifty poems by L.M. Montgomery, claiming the author not only as a nature poet but also as the author of a wider range of “songs”: of place, of memory, of lamentation, of war, of land and sea, of death, and of love. The afterword positions Montgomery as a shrewd businesswoman and places her work in the context of a wider range of Canadian poets who strove to find the balance between literary excellence and the necessity of earning a living as writers.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487531522
Paratexts: Preface (xv–xix), afterword (105–20), notes (121–28), index by title (135–36), index by date (137–38), index by first line (139–40).
Reception: Reviewed in Canadian Literature.
Twice upon a Time: Selected Stories, 1898–1939 (2022). xx + 332 pp.
Synopsis: This volume collects twenty-five short stories from across L.M. Montgomery’s career that contain early incarnations of characters, storylines, conversations, and settings that she would rework for inclusion in her novels, including Anne of Green Gables and its sequels. The afterword discusses Montgomery’s creative process in adapting her own work and places her alongside a wider range of Canadian writers who, in moving from periodical publication to book publication, told the same story twice.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487544140
Paratexts: Preface (xi–xvi), “A Note on the Text” (xvii–xix), twenty-five headnotes (4,050 words), afterword (261–90), notes (291–318).
Reception: Reviewed in Times Literary Supplement.