Subseries

This subseries chronicles the personal and social life of Gilberte Christin de Cardaillac through her artistic and craft production. Though it contains sketchbooks, greeting cards and watercolours, the bulk of the subseries is composed of thirteen scrapbooks she created from 1918 to 1975, almost her entire lifetime.

Rich, eclectic collections, these thirteen albums primarily contain drawings, typed and handwritten texts, collectible cards, postcards, show programs, travel mementos, photographs, invitations, numerous greeting cards and lists of all kinds (addresses, students, visits, gifts received, books read, etc.). Gilberte Christin de Cardaillac's interests are revealed in the numerous press clippings saved in the scrapbooks, many of which concern members of the royal family, the nobility, some artists, and famous politicians. Social events (teas, receptions, engagement parties, weddings) also figure prominently. It is evident that Gilberte Christin de Cardaillac enjoys anecdotes and cartoons, fictional stories and beautiful Quebec landscapes, particularly in the Gaspé Peninsula. Articles about well-known family members, like her grandfather Eugène Lafontaine and her sister's father-in-law, Édouard Montpetit, are included as well.

Six of the thirteen scrapbooks cover the years of her youth. The first ones record her school years, when the young Westmounter attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart. In addition to the aforementioned documents, these compilations contain school compositions and assignments, report cards, certificates of good conduct, rebus puzzles, and riddles. The albums reveal that the young woman engaged in an increasingly busy social life as she reached the end of adolescence. Her "debut" at the Saint Catherine's Ball on November 24, 1925, is documented with various keepsakes (program of the evening, ribbon, paper flower, press clipping). Made in the same spirit, the seven remaining scrapbooks chronicle the events that marked her adult life, starting with her 1931 wedding to Galiot de Cardaillac, followed three years later by the birth of their son Bertrand, and then the family's move to Knowlton in 1936. The last few albums bear traces of grown children and new generations in the family. For example, there are notes from her son Bertrand, her nephew Yves Montpetit and her granddaughter Andrée-Anne. Several items document exhibitions held in 1974 at the Couillard-Dupuis Manor in Montmagny, which included some paintings by Gilberte Christin de Cardaillac.

In addition to the scrapbooks, the series is completed by two watercolours, depicting respectively Cap Blanc and Percé Rock, three greeting cards accompanied by a preparatory drawing, and three sketchbooks. The latter contain quick sketches, preparatory drawings and more finished works produced over a period of nearly 40 years.