b. Jan. 27, 1927, Lindsay, ON; d. July 23, 2005, Toronto, ON

BA Modern History, 1948, BLS, 1949 (Toronto)

1949-1982 Librarian, Reference Department, Toronto Public Library
1952-1976 Librarian, Rare Books and Manuscript Collection, Toronto Public Library (later The Baldwin Room)
1977-1982 Head, Canadian History Department, Toronto Public Library

Firth, Edith G. ed. (!961). Early Toronto newspapers, 1973-1867: a catalogue of newspapers published in the town of York and the city of Toronto from the beginning to Confederation. Edited by Edith G. Firth, with an introduction by Harry C. Campbell. Toronto: Baxter Pub. Co.in cooperation with the Toronto Public Library.

Firth, Edith G. (1962). The town of York. 1793-1815: a collection of documents of early Toronto. Toronto: The Champlain Society.

Firth, Edith G. comp. (1963). The North West Passage, 1534-1859: a catalogue of an exhibition of books and manuscripts in the Toronto Public Library. Compiled by Edith G Firth, with an introduction by H.C. Campbell. Toronto: Baxter Pub. Co. in cooperation with the Toronto Public Library.

Firth, Edith G. comp. (1965). A Century of Ontario broadsides, 1793-1893: a typographic exhibition in the Toronto Public Library, June 1965. Compiled by Edith G. Firth. Toronto.

Firth, Edith G. (1966). The Town of York, 1815-1834: a further collection of early Toronto. Toronto: Champlain Society.

Firth, Edith G. ed. (1967). St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto: its history and restoration. [historical pictures and data]. Edited by A.Maurice Thompson. Toronto: Armath Associates.

Firth, Edith G. (1983). Toronto in art: 150 years through artists’ eyes. Markham, Ont: Fitzhenhenry & Whiteside in co-operation with the City of Toronto.

1963 American Association for State and Local History Certificate of Merit
1967 Canadian Historical Association Certificate of Merit for Local History
1967 Centennial Medal
1974 Toronto Historical Board. Award of Merit
1984 City of Toronto Book Award
1989 LLD Trent University

Champlain Society Council and Publishing Committee , General Editor, Ontario Series,1963-1971
Bibliographical Society Canada, Council member, 1964-1967; 1973-1977
Ontario Historical Society, Executive Committee, 1965-1967; Editorial Board, 1972-1977
Multicultural Historical Society of Ontario, Member and Director
Ontario Historical Studies Series, Director
National Archival Appraisal Board
Presbyterian Church General Assembly Committee on History

Sandra Alston of the Bibliographic Society wrote that at the Baldwin Room of the Toronto Public Library, Firth ”trained a number of staff to strive for excellence in public service and commitment to the historical record.” Jane McNamara of the Ontario Historical Society described her work as including some of the most important reference works on the history of Toronto. Her work for the Champlain Society “contained transcriptions of a wide range of documents from TPL, the Archives of Ontario, Libraries and Archives Canada and other repositories. The documents are put into their historical perspective in an insightful introduction and are extensively footnoted.” Further, her contribution to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography was immense. “Her intellect and scholarship live on in her fine books, in the manuscript and rare book collections she helped establish at the Toronto Public Library, and in the standards she encouraged in the Toronto historians who worked with and followed her.”

Obituary, Globe and Mail, April 19, 2006
BIBSOCAN: Bibliographical Society of Canada.
MacNamara, Jane. “Edith Firth, 1927-2005.” Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Tree, v.36 (5).Sept/.Oct. 2005, p. 58.
Edith G. Firth (1927-2005). Library Thing. Accessed June 5, 2013.