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Jamie Morton opens Relics of Interest with a concise history of the Winnipeg-based Mani-views toba Museum’s origins as well as the genesis of the Hudson’s Bay Company collection. But the substance of this book is a selection of artifacts highlighting the history of Canada’s oldest company.

Twenty-four items are featured from a collection of more than twenty-five thousand pieces. The chosen artifacts represent the jewels of the HBC collection’s crown. The book’s main photographs are large, showing fine details, and they are accompanied with smaller images of candid scenes, sketches, and other artwork.

This book could just as easily be about design within a fur-trade context. It is a collection of nineteenth-century fashion, art, furniture, tools, inventions, and watercraft as used by indigenous and immigrant populations.

This includes items like the Halkett boat, an inflatable one-person dinghy designed in the 1880s and used for Arctic exploration. Made from a combination of cotton and Indian rubber, the boat was stored in a wooden box. With only one other Halkett example still known to exist, it is truly rare. The boat is in excellent condition, leaving experts to believe that it has not actually been used.

Relics of Interest is an excellent choice for someone new to fur-trade history or who is looking to learn more about the Red River Settlement era. But even a long-time fur trade enthusiast will likely find a gem or two that they have not previously encountered.