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Osgoode Hall: An Illustrated History
2004 
by John Honsberger. Published with Dundurn Press, 2004.
Published to celebrate our 25th anniversary John Honsberger, a Toronto lawyer, editor and author, has produced a richly illustrated book with more than 50 coloured and 150 black and white photographs, describes the fascinating history of one of Canada’s most historic public buildings. The Hall, intended to be the focal point of the legal profession in Upper Canada, has become a symbol of the legal tradition across Canada. This splendidly illustrated volume is a worthy tribute to on of Canada’s architectural gems.
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Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD 11
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 15
Prologue: An Overview 19
1. Genesis 81
2. The First Hall 115
3. The Victorian Period 141
4. The Twentieth Century 213
EPILOGUE 269
APPENDICES
A. List of Major Additions and Alterations to Osgoode Hall 273
B. Plan of Osgoode Hall Showing Each Section and Addition with the
Date of Construction 277
C. Glossary of Architectural Terms 279
D. Glossary of Legal Terms 285
E. The Value of Money and What It Bought – Comparative Costs 289
F. 1846 Covenant of the Law Society of Upper Canada with Her Majesty
to Provide Accommodation to Superior Courts 293
G. 1874 Deed of Surrender from the Law Society to Her Majesty 295
H. 1885 Deed between the Queen and the Law Society of Upper Canada 299
I. 1894 Order-in-Council Respecting Extension to Library 303
NOTES 305
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 319
PICTURE CREDITS 323
INDEX 325
Awards
- Ontario Historical Society's Fred Landon Award (2006)
Reviews
Honsberger ... takes the reader on a tour first of the building then through the history of the legal profession so intimately connected with it. What a fascinating journey it is, made human with anecdotal references to many strong personalities, and illustrated with stunning photographs of the Hall and its contents. Chris and Pat Raible, Ontario Historical Society Bulletin, December 2004
Honsberger supplies ... a remarkable sense of place, more specifically of professionalized public spaces... The value of this book resides in its astute and readable relation of the significance of both architectural and institutional structure in contributing to, while also memorializing, changing social aspiration and practice. Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe, Canadian Historical Review, Vol 86, 2005, p. 739.
The Globe and Mail, 4 December 2004, p. D20.
H. Graham Rawlinson, Canadian Book Review Annual, 2004, p. 121.
Bill Robertson, Star-Pheonix (Saskatoon), 11 December 2004, p. E4.
Tracey Tyler, The Toronto Star, 28 November 2004, p. BO5.
