The Man Who Saved Vancouver: Major James Skitt Matthews, Daphne Sleigh. Published by Heritage House Publishing, 2008. Card covers. 8vo up to 9½” tall. 224pp. with black and white photos and illustrations. In fine condition.
Major James Skitt Matthews, noted for his fiery nature and stentorian voice as well as his zeal for collecting and preserving artifacts, was the founder of the City of Vancouver Archives, an institution he forced upon a reluctant city council and which he guarded ferociously until his death at age 92. In addition to collecting a massive number of historical objects and important early records, Matthews conducted hundreds of extensive interviews with Vancouver pioneers from disparate backgrounds, publishing them in his series Early Vancouver: Narratives of Pioneers of Vancouver, B.C.
