From Magog in the Eastern Townships (Quebec, Canada), I’ve been working in the fields of History, copyediting and teaching for over ten years. After my secondary and college studies in Sherbrooke – during which I had the chance to partake in an archeological dig in Collingwood, Ontario – I completed my B.A. (Honours) in History at McGill University. It is during these formative years that I acquired a comprehensive background in European and Canadian history and worked in different museums and historical sites as a guide, for example at Parks Canada.

The academic adventure then took me to Quebec City, where I enrolled in a Masters in History. During my two years at Laval University, I explored the world of justice, of notaries and of barristers in the South of France in the 17^th century. In order to conduct this research, I had the pleasure of spending a few months in Aix-en-Provence where I studied hundreds of pages of archive! It’s in these precious documents that I discovered a fascinating world and uncovered the story of the Longis family over a hundred years.

Thanks to generous scholarships, I pursued my dream of becoming a historian by moving to Paris, France in order to start my doctoral studies with world-renown historian Roger Chartier. For three years, I was lucky to enjoy Parisian life, its cafés, museums, libraries and delve into the wonderful world of rare books, the history of publishing, newspapers, copyright and of censorship in the Enlightenment. Back to Montreal after this exciting adventure, I wrote my dissertation of Pierre-Joseph-François Luneau de Boisjermain and self-publishing in Paris in the 18^th century.

The success of my doctoral studies allowed me to have the immense privilege of pursuing my academic path to Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) as a postdoctoral fellow. For two wonderful years, I acquired more research experience (with research trips to Paris and Germany) as well as teaching experience, have the chance to teach a class about book history at the Harvard Summer School.

Awarded the prestigious Banting Fellowship, I came back to Montreal where I continued my research as a postdoc at McGill University. For another two years, I not only organized and took part in several conferences around the world, but I also published my dissertation and other books, worked in research groups and co-founded the Montreal Book History Group. It’s also during this time that I was awarded a fellowship at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford (UK) in order to work with their incredible collection of rare books. What a great adventure and wonderful discoveries I was able to make!

Back to McGill University, I worked for a year in academic philanthropy and two years in project management while continuing my own research thanks to a grant from the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada. Such great research trips and collaborations! Teaching being a true passion, I also had the opportunity to give courses in Book History and European History at the University of Sherbrooke and the University of Montreal. I then worked as Academic Affairs Officer at McGill University Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and as Project Manager of the TRaCE McGill Project, helping shape the future of the PhD.

Now the mother of two wonderful little people, I am an Editor for McGill-Queen’s University Press where I work with authors to share their research and make beautiful books. In my spare time, I am happy to give public talks and share my love of book history. I also collaborate with my husband on his project Montréal Concert Poster Archive which traces the history of music venues in Montreal and seeks to digitize music show posters, tickets, flyers, and other ephemera from the last century.

Marie-Claude