Known Surviving Wythe Volumes

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Many of the actual volumes from George Wythe's personal library have survived to the present day. In particular, some books willed to Thomas Jefferson ended up at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which has the largest collection of books originally owned by Wythe.

George Wythe's copy of Acts Passed at a General Assembly (1780). From the collection of the Library of Virginia.

This list indicates surviving books' current locations, and proof of Wythe's prior ownership:

College of William & Mary, Wolf Law Library

Includes Wythe bookplate

  • Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives. Translated with notes historical and critical from M. Dacier. London: Printed for J. Tonson, 1727. [Volume 8 only.]

Includes Wythe signature

Inscribed to Wythe

  • Blair, Hugh. Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Aitken, 1784. [Inscribed on the front leaf: For the Honorable George Wythe Esquire from his most affectionate friend and obliged humble servant Thomas Lee Shippen. also includes George W. on front leaf] (on permanent loan from the Earl Gregg Swem Library)

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library

Includes Wythe’s bookplate

Inscribed by Wythe

  • Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia; written in the Year 1781, somewhat corrected and enlarged in the Winter of 1782, for the use of a Foreigner of Distinction,… [Paris]: 1782 [1784-85]. 1st edition [Inscribed on the front blank leaf: The Gift of the Honbl. George Wythe To Upton Beall May 10th 1787. Virginia & Maryland. Also inscribed on the first page: Upton Beale/ To gift the Honb. G. Wythe.]

Inscribed to Wythe

Library of Congress

Includes Wythe bookplate

  • Bacon, Matthew, Joseph Sayer, and Owen Ruffhead. A New Abridgment of the Law. 3rd ed. London, In the Savoy: 1736-66. [Volume II has Wythe's bookplate; volume IV has Wythe's name inscribed.]

Includes Wythe signature

Inscribed by Wythe

Inscribed to Wythe

Library of Virginia

Includes Wythe signature

  • Virginia. Laws, etc. (Session laws: 1776 Oct.). At a General Assembly, begun and held at the capitol, in the city of Williamsburg, on Monday the seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, and in the first year of the Commonwealth. Williamsburg: Printed by Alexander Purdie, printer to the Commonwealth, 1776.
  • Virginia. Laws, etc. (Session laws: 1779 May). Acts passed at a General Assembly: Begun and held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg, on Monday the third day of May, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Nine.. Williamsburg: Printed by John Dixon and Thomas Nicholson, 1779.
  • Virginia. Laws, etc. (Session laws: 1780 May). Acts passed at a General Assembly: begun and held in the town of Richmond, on Monday, the first day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty. Richmond: Printed by John Dixon and Thomas Nicolson, 1780.
  • Virginia. Laws, etc. (Session laws: 1781 May). Acts passed at a General Assembly: begun and held in the town of Richmond, on Monday the first day of May, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty. Richmond: Printed by John Dixon and Thomas Nicolson, 1781.

Monticello Foundation, Jefferson Library

Includes Wythe's bookplate

  • Homer. The Iliad of Homer. Translated by Alexander Pope, Esq. London: Printed for Henry Lintot, 1750. [Volume I only, also has signatures of Ellen Wayles Randolph and George Wythe Randolph.]

Mount Gulian Historic Site, Hudson Valley, New York

Includes Wythe's bookplate

Private collections

Includes Wythe bookplate

Includes Wythe signature

  • Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. London: Printed for Awnsham and John Churchil ... and Samuel Manship, 1700. [Signed on title page: George Wythe. Includes list of garden seeds in Wythe's hand.]

University of Virginia, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Includes Wythe's bookplate

  • The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments. Oxford: Thomas Baskett, 1754. [Includes manuscript note, "The Bible belonged to George Wythe, bequeathed by him to Thomas Jefferson, given by Thomas Jefferson to his grand-daughter Cornelia Jefferson Randolph, bequeathed by her to her niece Martha Jefferson Trist, given by her to her son, Nicholas Philip Trist Burke, Alexandria, Va., after his death given to the University of Virginia by Martha Jefferson Burke, Alexandria, Va., July 4, 1912."]

Inscribed by Wythe

Virginia Historical Society

Includes Wythe’s bookplate

See also