Mel Hurtig, President and owner of Hurtig Publishers, was the individual responsible for dreaming up the idea of producing a Canadian Encyclopedia, and the mover and shaker behind getting funding and support for the project. As a well-respected member of Canada's publishing industry, he was able to attract attention and draw support from across the country for his encyclopedia project. The files in this series are from Mel Hurtig's personal project binders, and provide a complete over-view of the encyclopedia project. The records, detailed and varied, suggest at the planning and organization required to move such a large project through the planning, implementing, and production stages. The files are in excellent physical condition.

Mel Hurtig's files were originally kept in binders, and organized and numbered by topic. Original order was restored in this series as almost all of the files were originally assigned a letter corresponding to a specific Canadian Encyclopedia subject area. There were 32 different topics assigned the files, ranging from the organization and development of the project to specific production concerns. There is information related to fundraising for the proposed encyclopedia, as well as correspondence files, financial records, publicity clippings, procedures and style manual, reports, and technical areas concerning design and specifications concerns, project insurance, and sales and distribution of the encyclopedia.

The series title is based on the contents of the records. A file listing follows.