View source for History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia: Being an Essay Towards a General History of This Colony''}}
===by William Stith===
{{BookPageInfoBox
|imagename=StithHistoryOfVirginia1747.jpg
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991016423919703196
|shorttitle=The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia
|author=[[:Category:William Stith|William Stith]]
|edition=First edition
|lang=[[:Category: English|English]]
|publoc=[[:Category:Williamsburg|Williamsburg]]
|publisher=[[:Category:William Parks|Printed by William Parks]]
|year=1747
|pages=viii, 331 [ie. 341], v, 34
|desc=[[:Category:Octavos|8vo]] (21 cm.)
|shelf=C-3
}}[[wikipedia:William Stith|William Stith]] (1707 &ndash; 1755) was a clergyman and historian born in Charles City County, Virginia, to Captain John Stith and Mary Randolph Stith.<ref>Susan Berg, "[http://history.org/Foundation/journal/summer13/stith.cfm Life, Liberty, and No Pistole]," ''Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Journal'' (Summer 2013), accessed October 1, 2013.</ref> He attended [[wikipedia:The Queen's College, Oxford|Queen's College]] and became an ordained priest in the Church of England before returning to Virginia.<ref>Thad W. Tate, "[https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/68752 Stith, William (1707-1755)]" in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' accessed October 1, 2013.</ref> In 1747, he published ''The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia.'' This work was considered especially significant because Stith diverged from the practice of other scholars by actually examining and evaluating records from the early settlement period rather than relying on stories and accounts from earlier writers. ''The History'' established Stith as a serious historian and served as a source for early Virginia history for over a century.<ref>Berg, "Life, Liberty, and No Pistole."</ref> Stith went on, in 1752, to become the third president of the [https://www.wm.edu/ College of William &amp; Mary.]

[[File:StithHistoryOfTheFirstDiscovery1747Headpiece.jpg|left|thumb|350px|<center>Headpiece, first page of text.</center>]]
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Mentioned by George Wythe in a [[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 7 April 1775|letter]] to [[Thomas Jefferson]], April 7, 1775: "...the matters you are considering are the same that are in the appendix to Mr. Stith's History...."<ref>Thomas Jefferson, ''Papers'', ed. Julian P. Boyd (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), 164.</ref> Both [[Dean Bibliography|Dean's Memo]]<ref>[[Dean Bibliography|Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean]], Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 16 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William &amp; Mary).</ref> and the [https://hdl.handle.net/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at [https://hdl.handle.net/10288/13433 Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center.</ref> suggest Wythe owned the first edition of this title based on his letter. The Wolf Law Library purchased a copy of the first edition.

==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in antique paneled calf with spine gilt and gilt morocco label. Purchased from the William Reese Company.

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157637634707275 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991016423919703196 William & Mary's online catalog.]

===Full text===
*[https://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/library/StithHistoryOfTheFirstDiscoveryAndSettlementOfVirginia1747.pdf ''The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia''] (19MB PDF)

==See also==
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*''[[Sinfulness and Pernicious Nature of Gaming|The Sinfulness and Pernicious of Gaming]]''
*[[Wythe's Library]]

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=aB4SAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover Google Books].

[[Category:American History]]
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
[[Category:William Stith]]

[[Category:English]]
[[Category:Octavos]]
[[Category:William Parks]]
[[Category:Williamsburg]]
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