Emily Carr Victorian-era journal sold to Library & Archives Canada

An illustrated account of Queen Victoria's funeral proceedings, created by Canadian art icon Emily Carr, has been auctioned off to Library and Archives Canada.

• Victorian-era Emily Carr journal up for sale

A lot titled The Queen's Funeral capturing the monarch's funeral procession in a journal of seven simply illustrated pages wassold off at a Heffelauction in Vancouver Thursday night.

"Emily Carr is arguably one of Canada's most important artists, and this prestigious acquisition fits very well into the documentary art mandate of our institution," said HervDry, Acting Librarian and Archivist of Canada, in a release.

The work by the iconic WestCoast artist reveals thatCarr, living in London at the time, was not the typicalgenteel Victorian lady.

B.C.-born Carr is known forher striking totem pole paintings and enchanting illustrations of her travels abroad. But a lesser known fact is that Carr was also a talented writer, demonstrated by the journal narrating one memorable day in London.

The journal comes from theClarke family, which founded the publisher Clarke, Irwin and Company and released several of the artist's books. According to Heffel, the family acquired the journaldirectly from Carr or Carrs estate. Though the firm never published the journalin its entirety, it did use one illustration for the first edition of Carrs novelGrowing Pains.

Queen Victoria's death

Carr made the journal when she was studying art and living at a ladies boarding house in London in 1901, the year of Queen Victoria's death.

In the booklet, she chronicles efforts she and her friendHannah Kendall made to view the funeral procession. To commemorate their comedic activities, Carr created two bookletsone for herself and one for her friend.

Though rare, it turns out The Queen's Funeral isn't quite one of a kind but the second to come to light in recent years.

Unknown to Heffel, anotherjournal with nearly identical drawings and inscriptions was brought to the Royal BritishColumbia Museum two years ago after decades on the other side of the world.

That journal belonged to Beatrice Hannah Kendal, the roommate with whom Carr spent that memorable day. Kendal gave it to her niece in Zimbabwe, who eventually brought it to Vancouver for an Emily Carr exhibit.

Making copies of paintings or illustrations wasnt uncommon for the artist.

Despite subtle differences in the illustrations and text in the twin journals, it is virtually impossible to tell which is the original and which is the copy.