Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1890–1914 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
85 drawings
11 bookplates
9 die impressions
8 photographs
1 folder of textual records
1 certificate
1 diploma
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Alfred Harold Howard (1854–1916) was a British Canadian graphic artist, calligrapher and decorative designer in Toronto in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Liverpool, England, he apprenticed as a lithographer with the Liverpool branch of the firm Maclure, Macdonald and Macgregor. In 1876 he immigrated to Canada and eventually opened an office of graphic design in the Temple Building in downtown Toronto. He received the Marquess of Lorne’s Medal for Design in 1881 and was made an academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1883.
Howard’s commercial design work took the form of illuminated addresses of welcome, certificates and diplomas and addresses of condolence. In 1891 he produced the City of Toronto address of condolence presented to Lady Macdonald on the death of the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Howard exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists at their Applied Art Exhibition in 1900 and with the Canadian Society of Applied Art in 1905. He was a member of the Toronto Art Students’ League and the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. When he died in Toronto in 1916 (26 February), the Art Museum of Toronto held a memorial exhibition of his work.
Howard’s artworks are in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Toronto Reference Library, the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Series comprises drawings by A. H. Howard of designs for illuminated addresses to dignitaries; designs of
book covers and bookplates; heraldic designs and insignia; photos of a book presented to the Governor
General of Canada, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, in 1914; and drawings of flowers and trees. Also
included are a certificate and a diploma designed by Howard, his business card, business letterhead and
other materials added to the fonds from related AGO Library and Archives files in 2010.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright has been transferred to the Art Gallery of Ontario.Material in this fonds is in the public domain. Permission of the Art Gallery of Ontario is required for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Series title based on contents. — Most items in the files of this series are mounted on sheets of paper or cardboard.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English