UBC LIBRARY BLOGGERS

Stanley Munn and Patricia Cucman have won the Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Book on British Columbia for their book To See What He Saw: J.E.H. Macdonald and the O’Hara Years, 1924-1932. The $3,500 prize, given by UBC Library and the Pacific BookWorld News Society, will be awarded at a reception to be held in April.

Published by Figure 1, the book draws on 20 years of meticulous, original research in archives and in the field, examining the works produced by English-Canadian artist and Group of Seven member James Edward Hervey (J.E.H.) MacDonald, R.C A. (1873–1932) during the last nine years of his life. By documenting MacDonald’s trips to Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Munn and Cucman create a detailed catalogue of more than 200 plein air sketches and studio works by MacDonald, which they organize geographically and pair with present day photographs shot from the same rocky viewpoints where the artist sat and sketched. The book was produced in conjunction with a 2024 exhibition at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, Alberta.

“As exploration geologists, it seemed natural to go in search of MacDonald’s exact painting sites. We hiked O’Hara high and low, sat where he had sat, and saw and photographed what he had seen. We read his letters and poetry and scoured his diaries to unravel the riddles he had left behind. Over time, we grew to admire his spirit, his humour, and his artistry and we came to understand that, nearly 100 years prior, MacDonald’s passion for this landscape was as ardent as our own,” says Cucman. “It is said that there resides inside each person the perfect landscape in which they are at their best. For the three of us, our perfect landscape is the Canadian Rockies—Lake O’Hara, in particular. We attempt to share this love story in To See What He Saw.”

“The impressive scholarship, beautiful design and splendid photography on display in this book are a testament to the authors’ intensely lived research,” says Dr. Susan E. Parker, UBC’s University Librarian. “We are honoured to award Stanley Munn and Patricia Cucman with the Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize.” 

Stanley Munn, a retired exploration geologist, fell in love with photography at an early age.  Patricia Cucman is a retired petroleum geologist. After retirement, they spent twenty years re-exploring Lake O’Hara together.

This book is available to purchase through UBC Bookstore. 

Shortlisted titles for the prize are:

Signs of the Time: Nłeʔkepmx Resistance through Rock Art, Chris Arnett. (UBC Press).

Pentecostal Preacher Woman: The Faith and Feminism of Bernice Gerard, Linda Ambrose. (UBC Press).

About the Prize

The Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize for Outstanding Book on British Columbia, sponsored by UBC Library and the Pacific BookWorld News Society, recognizes the best scholarly book published by a Canadian author on a B.C. subject. The book prize was established in memory of Basil Stuart-Stubbs, a bibliophile, scholar and librarian who passed away in 2012. Stuart-Stubbs’s many accomplishments included serving as the University Librarian at UBC Library and as the Director of UBC’s School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. Stuart-Stubbs had a leadership role in many national and regional library and publishing activities. During his exceptional career, he took particular interest in the production and distribution of Canadian books and was associated with several initiatives beneficial to authors and their readers, and to Canadian publishing.

Donations to support the Prize are gratefully accepted through The Basil Stuart-Stubbs Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Book on British Columbia Endowment.