PEI·NewMany people have a passion for collecting — from stamps to coins to hockey cards. For one man originally from Prince Edward Island, that passion revolves around books, specifically those about his home province. Rev. Edward Rix, who is from West Prince, has spent decades collecting books and other printed works related to P.E.I., and has now amassed over 2,000 items. Edward Rix, originally from western P.E.I., started collecting books when he was a childBrittany Spencer · CBC News · Posted: Nov 09, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Rev. Edward Rix, originally from West Prince, has spent years collecting printed works related to P.E.I. and has now amassed over 2,000 items, including books, magazines, and stationery. (Stephen Brun/CBC)Collectors come in all forms — some chase rare stamps, others vintage hockey cards. But for one P.E.I. man, the greatest finds are books that tell the story of the Island. Rev. Edward Rix is originally from West Prince, but has lived in the Philadelphia area for almost 30 years. He has spent decades collecting printed works related to P.E.I. and has now amassed over 2,000 items, including books, magazines and stationery. Rix said his passion for books is a family trait, handed down from his grandmother. “[She] loved books and loved to hold a book in her hand. It’s probably from her, watching the way that she adored books and was such an avid reader,” he said. “I was definitely a reader as a child, quite voracious.” Rix said his passion for books is a family trait, handed down from his grandmother, who was an avid reader. (Stephen Brun/CBC)He first started collecting books as a child, beginning with comic books he’d pick up at a store in Alberton. After a while the shop’s owner, Don Campbell, took notice of him and began recommending other books. It was there that Rix’s passion for collecting was born. Rix later attended university in Halifax, where he discovered the city’s many rare and used book stores. It was there that his collecting became more focused on books about P.E.I. Now, those printed works are a prominent feature of his collection.“You’d find books about Prince Edward Island going back to the 18th century. You would find a lot of books printed on Prince Edward Island and also just the general print culture of Prince Edward Island,” he said.“And of course, authors associated with P.E.I.” His collection includes rare items like early prints of P.E.I. poet Milton Acorn’s In Love and Anger, of which Rix said there are just over a dozen recorded copies.Rix has a rare copy of an early print of P.E.I. poet Milton Acorn’s In Love and Anger, of which there are just over a dozen recorded copies. (Stephen Brun/CBC)He has also collected a number of books by P.E.I. fiction author Basil King, including a number of first-edition novels dating back to 1909 — complete with the original dust jackets.“Sometimes it’s not the particular book itself, but the way you find it,” Rix said. His collection also includes different letters and stationary that has been printed on P.E.I. over the decades. LISTEN | This man has a collection of 2,000 book about P.E.I. — but no L.M. Montgomery:Island Morning8:21This man has a collection of 2,000 books about P.E.I. — but no L.M. MontgomeryEdward Rix has spent decades collecting books and printed items related to P.E.I. — and now has over 2000. We speak to him about his collecting adventures ahead of a talk at UPEI’s Robertson Library. Books aplenty — but no L.M. Montgomery? It’s fair to say that Rix’s collection is vast, but there is one famous P.E.I. author who is missing from his shelves. “I don’t really collect Lucy Maud Montgomery, mostly because there are [already] very, very fine collections.”He has bought and sold her books over the years, mainly to Island booksellers since so many people who visit P.E.I. are looking to take a copy of Montgomery’s work home with them, he said. This also gives him a chance to work with Island bookstores to find items that he finds more interesting, specifically those from where he grew up.“I’m from western Prince Edward Island, so books published in Prince County — there were presses in Summerside and Alberton in the 19th century — but finding things from western Prince Edward Island is very, very rare.” Rix, right, plans to donate his collection to UPEI eventually, but for now he’d like to continue building his collection. He’s pictured here with Robertson Library’s interim head librarian, Simon Lloyd. (Stephen Brun/CBC)Rix gave a talk about his collection and what it took to build it at UPEI’s Robertson Library last week. He said eventually he plans to donate his collection to UPEI, but there’s no plan yet for when that will happen, and he’d like to continue to grow his collection in the meantime. “I want [it] to be in a place where people would go looking for such resources… UPEI seemed like the right place to put this collection.” ABOUT THE AUTHORBrittany Spencer is a multi-platform reporter and producer with CBC Prince Edward Island. She’s covered politics, health care and the justice system. She’s a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s journalism program and joined CBC in 2017. You can reach her at brittany.spencer@cbc.caWith files from Island Morning
Meet the man whose book collection includes 2,000 items about P.E.I.
