The W.H. Coverdale collection of Canadiana, also known by its variant title as the Manoir Richelieu collection of Canadiana, includes prints, maps, paintings, watercolours and other material which formerly hung on the walls of the Canada Steamship Lines hotel at Murray Bay, Quebec, the Manoir Richelieu. The collection was an endeavour to capture the spirit of Canadian history both through the acquisition of historical works related to Canada, and more broadly, North America, as well as the acquisition of works by contemporary artists who, with a feeling for the past, had succeeded in recreating significant events or historic settings which have been obliterated by the ravages of time. The collection was assembled largely through the personal efforts of William Hugh Coverdale (1871-1949), president of Canada Steamship Lines from 1922 to 1949, who decided that the corridors and rooms of the newly-constructed Manoir Richelieu should be graced with scenes from Canadian history. The first works for the collection were acquired in 1928 and continued to be acquired until 1947 or later. The collection itself covers every aspect of Canadian history from the earliest French settlements right up to the 1920s, including views of places, portraits of individuals directly and indirectly involved in the history of Canada, and records of events and scenes which have specific meaning in the visual history of the country and of North America as a whole. Among the more notable parts of the collection are full sets of Richard Short's 1761 views of Quebec and 1764 views of Halifax; Hervey Smyth's views of Gaspé and Quebec of 1761; the Cockburn Quebec and Niagara views; more than 180 sheets from Audubon's Birds of America and 99 prints from Audubon's Quadrupeds of America, 145 prints from Bartlett's Canadian scenery and American scenery; 121 Indian portrait prints from McKenny & Hall's North American Indians, published in 185-8; 25 prints from George Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio of 1844; 50 watercolours by James Pattison Cockburn; 23 watercolours by Daniel Wilson; 28 drawings by Charles W. Jefferys; 33 watercolours by Augustus Terrick Hamilton; 11 watercolours by James Hope-Wallace; and works by a wide variety of other artists, including James Peachey, George Heriot, William Armstrong, Charles William Jeffreys, Charles Ramus Forrest, Henry Rudyerd, Charles Beauclerk, Henry James Warre, Thomas and Robert Hood.
The collection includes 27 oil paintings; 335 watercolours, in gouache; 77 pencil, pen and ink, pastel drawings; 1724 prints, etchings, engravings, lithographs, photogravures, offset lithographs mezzotints, and serigraphs; 244 maps;7 b&w photographs, as well as reproductions.