When it comes to returning books, it is better late than never.
Three books, symbolizing the stash looted from the city’s only library during the Battle of York on April 27, 1813, were returned Sunday to the Toronto Reference Library.
In a ceremony, filled with lighthearted humour and ribbing about overdue fines, Constance Barone, of Sackets Harbor, N.Y. righted the centuries-old wrong which occurred during the war between the U.S. and Canada from 1812 to 1814.
She recounted how Commodore Isaac Chauncey’s squadron, which launched its invasion of Canada from Sackets Harbor, lifted the books from York’s library.
“Chauncey’s mortification is being relieved,” says the site manager of the town’s state historic site.
She presented The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’sDublin, 1754; Pope’s Poetical Works, 1752 and Fordyce’s Sermons toYoung Women, 1803.
These are not the actual stolen books, as they were packed up under Chauncey’s orders and returned to Canada. Unfortunately, York had no library by then and the books were ignored before being auctioned off in 1822.
The three books chosen are originals and would have been representative of a library’s offerings in 1813, library officials say.
Actor (and book lover) R.H. Thomson hosted the event in which he declared an end “to the cold war of books”.
The audience got to hear a musical description of the Battle of York and the book theft by singer-songwriter Mike Ford, formerly of the band Moxy Fruvous.
He has written an 11-song cycle about the War of 1812 which he performs in Ontario schools in a program sponsored by the federal government. Last summer, Ford immersed himself in the Toronto Reference Library’s historical collection on the Canada-U.S. war.
He sang “This Town is Beat,” which included the delightful detail that one of the U.S. soldiers who died was pickled in rum as a preservative. Even Ford’s guitar makes a musical statement — it is covered in War of 1812 pictures including soldiers, proclamations and a special Laura Secord stamp.
To listen to his songs and see his decorated guitar, go to www.mikeford.ca