This post is written by Barry W. Kinnaird, Jr., '72.
A book on the fascinating history of the W&M library was published by John M. Jennings in 1968 - The Library of The College of William and Mary in Virginia, 1693-1793.
While focusing on the period from 1693 to 1793, Jennings also provides a history of the acquisition of books mostly through donations and through a levy/tax (one penny per pound of tobacco exported) used for the development of the College from the time of the Virginia colony's establishment. As noted by Jennings, the books initially donated were mostly religious in nature, which reflected both the educational aims of the College at the time and the sources of the donated books.
Further fascinating development of the Library is documented on the website of William & Mary Libraries. The fire of 1705, which destroyed the Wren building and the entire library collection, is discussed in detail. The article documents the fire's subsequent impact on the efforts to have a library integral to the university's education programs.
Documentation of the books in the collection destroyed by the 1705 Wren Building fire and the subsequent library fires in 1859 and 1862 has mostly been lost. However, Jennings provides a summary of the donations made by Francis Nicholson to 1695 as documented in a catalogue found in the Fulham Palace archives in England. According to Jennings, this "covers a collection of over 200 books, of which 158 were listed by title" (21).
At the time of the 1705 fire, Jennings estimates that there were less than a thousand volumes in the library. Due to the range of donors, the nature of the books probably covered a variety of topics that extended beyond the mostly religious books donated by Nicholson.
Since the 1960s, the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) has sought to replicate the original Nicholson donation. The current catalogue lists 96 books that have been sourced. A list of the remaining books to be acquired has been developed.
Over the last 5 years, I have been working with Jay Gaidmore, Director of Special Collections, to enhance the collection of books related to the development of the library, some of which may have been lost in the 1705 fire.
To date, I have been able to source over 100 books, maps, acts of Parliament and other items related to and published during the reign of William and Mary. The topics of these materials range across history, religion, poetry, drama, politics, legal, art, geography, music, education and science.
A number of the books were disbound, and others were significantly damaged when sourced. I (we) have been fortunate to have 23 of these conserved or rebound by Roger and Penny Perry and their daughter, Karen McGuire, who live in Queensland, Australia. Roger, who does the leather work and gilding, and Penny, who does the repairs and resewing, trained in England over 60 years ago and worked for many years at George Bayntun in Bath. Karen has developed brilliant skills in book conservation and is on Facebook.
Working with Jay in this ephemeral archaeological journey has been a fascinating educational experience for me as my knowledge of this period in history was very limited. Even after attending William & Mary and living in Williamsburg, I was not aware of the devastating losses of the library that happened in 1705 and subsequently in 1859 and 1862!
I plan to continue my work to enhance the SCRC's collection related to this period and would welcome any support in this effort. It will be fantastic to be able to assist in the continued sourcing of the remaining books for the Francis Nicholson collection.