George Wythe Bibliography

Marble bust by Bryant Baker (1962). Original at the Virginia State Capitol, Library of Virginia art collection, Richmond, Virginia.

Biographical monographs

• Bailey, John. Jefferson's Second Father. Sydney, Australia: Momentum Books, 2013.

• Blackburn, Joyce. George Wythe of Williamsburg. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

• Brown, Imogene E. American Aristides: A Biography of George Wythe. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, c1981.

• Clarkin, William. Serene Patriot: A Life of George Wythe. Albany, New York: Alan Publications, 1970.

• Dill, Alonzo Thomas. George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty. Williamsburg, Va.: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1979.

• Hemphill, William Edwin. "George Wythe the Colonial Briton: A Biographical Study of the Pre-Revolutionary Era in Virginia". PhD diss., University of Virginia, 1937.

• Kirtland, Robert Bevier. George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge. New York: Garland, 1986.

• Loker, Aleck. George Wythe: Venerable Statesman, Jurist and Educator. Williamsburg, Va.: Solitude Press, 2007.

• Shewmake, Oscar L. The Honourable George Wythe: Teacher, Lawyer, Jurist, Statesman: An Address Delivered Before the Wythe Law Club of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Dec. 18, 1921. Richmond, Va., 1950.

Biographical articles

• Allen, William. "Wythe (George)." In An American Biographical and Historical Dictionary, Containing an Account of the Lives, Characters, and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in North America from Its First Discovery to the Present Time, and a Summary of the History of the Several Colonies, and of the United States, 627-631. Cambridge, MA: William Hilliard, 1809.

• Anderson, Dice Robins. "The Teacher of Jefferson and Marshall." In South Atlantic Quarterly 15, no. 4 (October 1916): 327-343.

• Call, Daniel. "Biographical Sketch of the Judges of the Court of Appeals." In Reports of Cases Argued and Decided in the Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2nd ed., 4:x-xv. Richmond, VA: Robert I. Smith, 1833.

• Douglas, Davison M. "The Man Behind the 'Wythe.'" (1993). In William & Mary Lawyer (1993):

• "Eulogium on the Late Chancellor Wythe, of Virginia; Pronounced by a Gentleman of the Bar Before a Respectable Audience in the Western Part of Virginia—July, 1806." In Massachusetts Missionary Magazine, 5, no. 1 (June 1807): 10-15.

• "George Wythe: Letter from Hon. Henry Clay to B.B. Minor, Esq." In Virginia Historical Register, and Literary Companion 5, no. 3 (July 1852): 162-167.

• Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The Virginia Convention of 1776. Richmond, VA: J.W. Randolph, 1855, 119-130.

• Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. The Republican Court: or, American Society in the Days of Washington, 67-69, 74-75. New York: D. Appleton, 1855.

• Hemphill, W. Edwin. "George Wythe Courts the Muses: In Which, to the Astonishment of Everyone, That Silent, Selfless Pedant is Found to Have Had a Sense of Humor." In William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser., 9, no. 3 (July 1952), 338-345.

• Lemprière, John. "Wythe, George." In Lempriere's Universal Biography, edited by Eleazar Lord, 2:834. New York: R. Lockwood, 1825.

• Lewis, J. L., Jr. "Prize Biography: George Wythe." In Literary Inquirer 3, no. 2 (30 July 1834): 13.

• "Memoirs of the Late George Wythe, Esquire." In American Gleaner and Virginia Magazine (January 24, 1807): 1-3.

• Minor, B. B. "Memoir of the Author." In Decisions of Cases In Virginia, by the High Court Chancery, with Remarks Upon Decrees By the Court of Appeals, Reversing Some of Those Decisions, by George Wythe, edited by B. B. Minor, xi-xxxx. Richmond, Virginia: J.W. Randolph, 1852.

• Munford, R. B., Jr. "An Englishman's Tribute to Chancellor Wythe." In Sons of the Revolution in State of Virginia Quarterly Magazine 1, no. 2 (April 1922): 39.

• Munford, William. "Oration, Pronounced at the Funeral of George Wythe." In Richmond Enquirer, June 13, 1806 and June 17, 1806. Reprinted in the Virginia Argus, June 17, 1806.

• Patteson, S. S. P. "The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, I.." In Green Bag 5, no. 7 (July 1893): 311-312, 314-329.

• Page, Rosewell. "George Wythe." In Genesis and Birth of the Federal Constitution, edited by J.A.C. Chandler, 375-386. New York: Macmillan, 1924.

• Taylor, Lyon G. and Charles Washington Coleman. "Glimpses of Old College Life." In William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine 8, no. 3 (January 1900), 153-160

• Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. "George Wythe." In Great American Lawyers, edited by William Draper Lewis, 51-90. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: John C Winston, 1907.

• W.P.P. "A Venerable Old Tree." In Richmond Times (October 28, 1894): 9.

• Warren, Charles. "Early Law Professorships." In History of the Harvard Law School and of Early Legal Conditions in America, 1:169-172. New York: Lewis Publishing, 1908.

• Weems, M. L. "The Honest Lawyer, an Anecdote." Charleston Times (July 1, 1806): 3.

• William R. Smith, "George Wythe," in Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, edited by John Sanderson, 2:161-184. Philadelphia: R.W. Pomeroy, 1823. Reprinted in Sanderson's Biographies of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, edited by Robert T. Conrad, 633-644. Philadelphia: William Brotherhead, 1865; and An Outline of the Political and Social Life of George Washington, and Biographical Sketches of the Lives of the Fifty-six Signers of the Declaration of Independence, edited by in James Tyson, 2:196-212. Oakland, CA: Pacific Press, 1895.

• "Wythe, George." In Biographia Americana; or, A Historical and Critical Account of the Lives, Actions, and Writings of the Most Distinguished Persons in North America, From the First Settlement to the Present Time, edited by Benjamin Franklin French, 334-338. New York: D. Mallory, 1825.

• "Wythe, George." In Encyclopædia Americana, edited by Francis Lieber, 13:287. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard, 1833.

• "Wythe, George." In The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, Being the History of The United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time, 3:308-309. New York: James T. White, 1893.

Wythe on the Web

• Berkin, Carol. "Founding Fathers: Virginia." National Constitution Center. Excerpted from A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution. New York: Harcourt, 2002.

• The Capitol.Net, Inc. "George Wythe, “Teacher of Liberty” (1726-1806)." In hobnob blog. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. "George Wythe." Accessed July 10, 2014.

• Daughters of the American Revolution. "Chancellor Wythe Chapter." Accessed July 10, 2014.

• "Founding Fathers: George Wythe." In LibertyForAll.net. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• "George Wythe." In Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• "George Wythe." In New World Encyclopedia. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• "George Wythe." In Wikipedia. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• "George Wythe: FFDWR (Founding Father Deserving Wider Recognition)." In Fit to Print: Dispatches from the Virginia Newspaper Project @ the Library of Virginia. Accessed March 24, 2015.

• Goodrich, Charles A. "George Wythe, 1726-1806." In ColonialHall.com. Excerpted from Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 364-372.

• Independence Hall Association. "Signers of the Declaration of Independence: George Wythe." In ushistory.org. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• Library of Virginia. "GEORGE WYTHE (ca. 1726–1806)." In Virginia Memory: Shaping the Constitution. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• Lockwood, Thornton C. and Page Warden. "George Wythe." In The Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Article published December 11, 2011.

• The Monticello Foundation. "George Wythe." In The Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• Peterson, Robert A. "George Wythe of Williamsburg." In The Freeman *June 1984).

• United States Congress. "WYTHE, George, (1726 - 1806)." In The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• United States National Archives. "America's Founding Fathers: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention: The Founding Fathers, Virginia." In The Charters of Freedom. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• United States National Park Service. "George Wythe, Virginia." In Signers of the Declaration. Last modified July 4, 2004.

• William & Mary Law School. "George Wythe." Accessed July 10, 2014.

• Wilson, Gary. "George Wythe, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1726-1806: Mini Biography for May." In Caroline County Board of Supervisors. FoundersofAmerica.org. Accessed July 10, 2014.

• "Wythe, George." In TheFreeDictionary. Accessed July 10, 2014.

Wythe the judge

• Bryson, W. Hamilton. "The Use of Roman Law in Virginia Courts." In American Journal of Legal History 28 (1984): 135-146.

• Hoffman, Richard J. "Classics in the Courts of the United States, 1790-1800." In American Journal of Legal History 55 (1978): 55-84.

• Holt, Wythe. "George Wythe: Early Modern Judge." In Alabama Law Review 58, no. 5 (2007): 1009-1039.

Wythe the teacher

• Douglas, Davison M. "Jefferson's Vision Fulfilled: The Nation's Oldest Law School Celebrates 230 Years of Educating Citizen Lawyers." In William & Mary Alumni Magazine (Winter 2010): 48-51.

• Hemphill, William Edwin. "George Wythe: America’s First Law Professor and the Teacher of Jefferson, Marshall and Clay." Masters thesis, Emory University, 1933.

• Hunter, Thomas. "The Teaching of George Wythe." In The History of Legal Education in the United States: Commentaries and Primary Sources, edited by Steve Sheppard, 1:138-168. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1999.

• Reveley, W. Taylor, III. "W & M Law School Came First. Why Care?" In University of Toledo Law Review 35 (2003): 185-188.

• Tesar, Linda K. "George Wythe and the Teaching of Roman Civil Law in Williamsburg." In Matilda of Canossa and the Origins of the Renaissance, edited by Michèle K. Spike, 41-43. Williamsburg, Virginia: Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary, 2015.

Wythe's death

• Berexa, Daniel P. "The Murder of Founding Father George Wythe." In Tennessee Bar Journal (January 2011): 22-29.

• Boyd, Julian P. "The Murder of George Wythe." In William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser., 12, no. 4 (October 1955): 513-542.

• Chadwick, Bruce. I Am Murdered: George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and the Killing that Shocked a New Nation. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

• Chadwick, Bruce. "The Mysterious Death of Judge George Wythe." In American History (February 2009): 36-41.

• Chadwick, Bruce. "The Mysterious Death of Judge George Wythe". Historynet.com. Article published online December, 2008.

• Esposito, Mark. "The Curious Death of George Wythe: "I Am Murdered!" Jonathan Turley blog. Article published December 12, 2010.

• "Full of years and full of honour." In Richmond Enquirer, June 10, 1806.

• Hemphill, W. Edwin. "Examinations of George Wythe Swinney for Forgery and Murder: A Documentary Essay." In The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 12, no. 4 (October 1955): 543-574.

• Hull, Chris. "I Am Murdered." By Harmony Hunter. Past and Present: The Colonial Williamsburg Podcast (January 23, 2012).

• Jarrett, Calvin. "Was George Wythe Murdered?" In Virginia Cavalcade 13, no.3 (Winter 1963-64): 33-39.

• Munford, George Wythe. "Chancellor Wythe's Death." In The Two Parsons; Cupid's Sports; The Dream; and The Jewels of Virginia, 414-433. Richmond, Virginia: J.D.K. Sleight, 1884.

• Theobald, Mary Miley. "Murder by Namesake: The Poisoning of the Eminent George Wythe." In Colonial Williamsburg, 35 (Winter 2013): 24-30.

• "We this day perform the painful task of announcing the death of the Venerable George Wythe...." In Virginia Argus, June 10, 1806.

Wythe's library

• Brown, Bennie. "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond." unpublished manuscript, 2009, rev. May, 2014. Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.

• Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975).

• Goodwin, Mary R. M. The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings. Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958.

• George Wythe on LibraryThing.," accessed on May 1, 2014.

• Tay, Endrina and Jeremy Dibbell. "Tales from the Vault: "Reconstructing a Lost Library: George Wythe's 'legacie' to Thomas Jefferson." In Common-Place 10, no. 2, (January 2010).

• Tesar, Linda K. "Forensic Bibliography: Reconstructing the Library of George Wythe." In Law Library Journal 105 (2013): 57-77.