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The George Wythe Encyclopedia

Welcome to the George Wythe Encyclopedia, a project of The Wolf Law Library at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The purpose of the encyclopedia is to provide a single source for information relating to George Wythe, first professor of law in America and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Entries highlight Wythe's career as Professor of Law and Police at William & Mary and provide background information for the George Wythe Collection, The Wolf Law Library's ongoing re-creation of Wythe's Library.

Featured article "Oration Pronounced at the Funeral of George Wythe" is a transcription of the oration delivered by William Munford, Wythe's friend and former student, at Wythe's state funeral in the Capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, on June 11th, 1806. It originally appeared in the Richmond Enquirer on July 13, 1806 and was subsequently republished in several newspapers including the Raleigh Register and North-Carolina State Gazette. Featured book 200px Wythe, George. 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 Nicolson, 1795.

Featured Picture George Wythe's bookplate from volume 7 of The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Kt., Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. More about known surviving Wythe volumes in the George Wythe Wiki.

About The Wolf Law Library

The law library at the College of William & Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law was rededicated in 2006 as The Wolf Law Library. The current law school was built in 1980, but the library was expanded and completely renovated in 2005-2007 to include space for over 400,000 volumes, seating for more than 500, 12 group study rooms, and the Nicholas J. St. George Rare Book Room, where some of the library's material related to George Wythe is displayed. The library's mission includes providing access to law and law-related resources, as well as a wide range of services that support the law school curriculum and programs, promoting the advancement of legal scholarship, and fulfilling the information needs of students, faculty, and the local legal community.

For a complete history of William & Mary's law library, see "America's First Law School Library: A History of the College of William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe Law Library, 1779-1995" by James S. Heller, in Law Librarianship: Historical Perspectives, ed. Laura N. Gasaway & Michael G. Chiorazzi (Littleton, CO: Rothman, 1996), 43-76.