Letter of Transmittal.

VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY, January 10, 1911.

The Library Board of the Virginia State Library.

GENTLEMEN:

Some years ago Mr. J. H. Whitty, of Richmond, made a copy of the copyright entries registered in the office of the clerk of the United States District Court at Richmond, 1790-1844. These original entries were then in the possession of Judge Robert W. Hughes. Mr. Whitty has generously presented his copy to the Virginia State Library. I herewith transmit the list of titles as submitted by him. With the exception of a few corrections of evident mistakes in copying, the titles have been allowed to stand exactly as he copied them, in spelling, punctuation and capitalization. Undoubtedly, some errors have crept in in the copy made by Mr. Whitty, and the absence of the original records has made it impossible to correct them.

The publication of the entries will prove of very great interest to all students of Virginia bibliography.

Very respectfully,

H. R. McILWAINE,

State Librarian.

Introduction.

The following titles entered for copyright in the State of Virginia cover the period from the year 1790 to 1844. The Continental Congress framed a resolution May 2, 1783, recommending to the several States a copyright law. This was favorably acted upon by Virginia in October, 1785. No records have been discovered of State copyright entries in Virginia. Copyright entries were first registered in the United States District Court of Virginia by William Marshall, clerk, a brother of Chief Justice John Marshall. They continued to be registered in that office until the year 1870, when Congress transferred the matter to the Librarian of Congress.

It has always been supposed that the early record books of copyright registration for Virginia, prior to 1837, were destroyed by fire at the evacuation of Richmond. My belief is that there were no record books, but that the loose title pages of which I speak later, some of which were endorsed with the names of proprietors, constituted the only record of the period. The record books of a later period in the Library of Congress are rather meager and comprise, according to a recent statement of the register of copyrights, the following: "A large blank record book containing a few registrations upon the first pages, the earliest of which is dated 1837, followed by a registration of 1851 and some scattering registrations up to April, 1870. A second record book containing some registrations beginning on the 9th day of May, 1867, and running to the 22d of June, 1870. A third small volume containing a few registrations on the first thirtytwo pages running from the 9th day of May, 1867, to the 22nd day of June, 1870, seeming to be a duplicate of the second book."

The late Judge Robert W. Hughes had in his possession a record of copyright entries, consisting of loose title pages, dating from 1790 to the year 1844. He allowed me to make an exact copy many years ago, which I now place for publication with the State Library of Virginia. This record gives the exact title page descriptions, with most of the dates of entry and names of authors and proprietors. Prior to a disastrous fire which destroyed a portion of my library some years ago, I had one of the largest collections of Virginia books extant. The study of Virginia titles has always been a pleasant pastime with me. Many of the titles in this record have never been met with by me elsewhere. The record is invaluable to Virginia bibliography, especially the "Henkel" German entries, one of which is, I believe, the title of the first catechism printed in Vir

ginia in both the German and English languages. The 1816 entry indicates that this was the fourth edition, enlarged and improved.

The record reveals a writing of Samuel Kercheval, the title of which has not been definitely known before, I believe, and to which reference is made by Jefferson in a letter to Kercheval of July 12, 1816; also a title page of a Richmond directory earlier than that of Maddox in 1819. Some early Virginia books were not entered for registration and others may have escaped registry through the early methods employed by the clerks of the courts. This record may be regarded as a useful presentation of some of the important publishing activities of Virginia for the years 1790 to 1844.

Richmond, Virginia, December 8, 1910.

J. H. WHITTY.

Virginia Copyright Entries

(1790-1844)

In the following list, the date at the beginning of each title is the year of the copyright entry. The parenthetical matter appearing after some of the titles was copied by Mr. J. H. Whitty from the backs of the loose pages on which the original entries were made, and gives usually the exact date of the entry and occasionally the name of the owner of the copyright

1790 The Life and adventures of Simon Crea McMahon, With Miscellaneous pieces, In prose and verse. Part the first. Encourage genius to humanize the glowing Heart. Richmond: Printed For the author, 1790.

1791 The Annual Register of the Eaptist Denomination, in North America, To the First of November 1790. Containing An account of the churches and their constitutions, Ministers, Members, Associations, their plan and Sentiments, Rule and Order, Proceedings and Correspondence. Also Remarks upon practical religion. Humbly offered To the Public. By John Asplund.

1791 The new Ahiman Rezon, containing the laws and constitution of the grand Lodge of Virginia. To which is added the History of Masonry, from the creation, to the Death of Queen Elizabeth. Also illustrations of the royal art;" and a variety of other matter relative to that institution. Carefully collated, from the most approved authors, ancient as well as modern. By John K. Read, present deputy grand master of Virginia, and member of the sublime lodge of perfection, of Charleston, South Carolina.

"Causa Latet: vis est Notissima. Ovid Met" 4 ver 287. Richmond: Printed by John Dixon. 1791.

1791 (?) A Topographical Analysis of The Commonwealth of Virginia. Compiled for 1790-1 showing the extent and relative situation of the several counties, their distances from the seat of government, population, Force, County Lieutenants, Representatives &c-also the District and County Courts; the civil list of the Commonwealth &c. carefully collected from Public Records, and other authorities. To be continued annually.

1792 A Tour through the Southern and Western territories, of the United States of North America; The Spanish Dominions on the River Mississippi, and the Floridas; The countries of the Creek Nations; and many uninhabited Parts. By John Pope. "Malum Paucorum plurimum omnium interest." Published for the author and his three children, Alexander D. Pope, Lucinda C. Pope and Anne Pope.

(March, 1792.)

1795 Decisions of cases in Virginia. By The High Court of Chancery, with remarks upon Decrees By the Court of Appeals, Reversing some of those decisions. Richmond: Printed By Thomas Nicholson. 1795.

(George Wythe. 1795, 6th Jany.)