Animals Are Allowed in the Library
![Animals Allowed in the Library [Exhibit Poster]](/content/programs-and-classes/exhibits/images/animals-poster.jpg)
About the Exhibit
Whether they are in the circus or the zoo, in the field, the stream or the air, on a dinner plate or an altar, animals have fascinated humanity from its earliest origins.
Selected from Toronto Public Library's rare books, original art and ephemera collections, this survey features prints from Audubon's Quadrupeds, and includes wild and domestic animals, mythological creatures and animals at play.
Exhibition Items:
John Woodhouse Audubon (1812-1862)
Ocelot, or Leopard-Cat
Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America
New York: J. J. Audubon, 1845-8
Hand-coloured lithograph
Known in Texas as the Leopard-Cat and in Mexico as the Tiger-Cat, the Ocelot was drawn from nature by Audubon's son John Woodhouse
John James Audubon (1785-1851) Racoon
Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America
New York: J. J. Audubon, 1845-8
Hand-coloured lithograph
Like other mammals that have successfully adapted to urban development, the racoon eats a wide range of foods, particularly if it happens to be served in a garbage can.
William Pope (1811-1902)
Woodchuck, 1860
Watercolour over pencil
The woodchuck, or groundhog as it is more commonly called in Canada, burrows beneath the ground. William Pope presents a careful study of one of Canada's most industrious creatures. Philanthropist J. Ross Robertson presented the watercolour drawings by William Pope of birds and mammals to the Toronto Public Library in 1917.
E.H. Griset (d.1870)
A Is For Antelope, B Is For Bear
Watercolour and ink
Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books