One Survived
Lone book saved from
Moseley's colonial li¬
brary.
By MARY L.
ТНОКМОЛ
A volume in ihc North Carolina
Collection at the University bears a
bookplate with coat of arms and auto¬
graph of Edward Moseley. It may be
the only survivor of a private library
that has been called the most exten¬
sive in the Colony during the first cen¬
tury after its settlement.
Moseley first appeared in North
Carolina in 1705 when he settled in
Chowan. He was probably the same
Edward Moseley who was employed
in 1703 to make a catalogue of the
Library at Charleston during a brief
residence in that city. His interest in
books may have been stimulated by
this work. Living in a time when
books and learning were valued less
than the sterner qualities of the pio¬
neer. he assembled a fine library for
his own use, and also offered a library
for public use to Edenton.
His generosity is recorded in a list of
books entitled: "A Catalogue of Books
humbly presented by Edwd. Moseley,
Esqr.. to the Honb’le & most august
Society for the Propagation of the Gos¬
pel in Foreign parts towards a Pro¬
vincial Library to be Kept in Eden¬
ton, the Metropolis of North Carolina.”
Local pride of a loyal citizen may be
detected in the title “Metropolis."
probably conferred as a restrained pro¬
test against the Society’s earlier gift
of a library to Bath, a smaller town
in a more sparsely settled region.
Moseley’s catalogue lists 74 titles.
49 of which arc in Greek or Latin.
The books are mainly philosophical
and religious, but some of more general
interest arc included. All are of a type
that would appeal only to educated
readers.
The question arises as to where
Moseley secured the books. It would
have been impossible to buy them
THE STATE, July 22. 1961
Л
GENERAL
T R E A T I S E, ■
OF
lUSIlAND RY wit G A R OF. N I N f. .
i rs
Г
E M *i VEC
ЕТ/П
to X
|1.‘.Г|гв»1
wiib mu'f
}llt»ER\ ATIOSS anJ I XII. RIM l NTS
III 1 wo V
О
L l' M E S
frnntv rubYhM Mpti * mi now irtci!*'-
i'J j nJ lititftlcJ u:v. ri propel Hi ids will'.
A
и
□ i t i v» \ % ml
лги:
Alt i iamos'i
la Fovt
Vi 1. Co •tm.-g tV
(..r-wnitl Lii.i In.
tu.
>(МИ~
<-*
me» lnim wnl
Parts.
r.it III Of 'be StmigMmi
rl K, • T>t. . »||H [J-
fir»to ir.i •
IV — CruSv. Inurtto If
r.i>»,. MKIrff-.GiMV-.
(,пл
C'«Vi .
С/.
in)
IVilv Ktr,r. iMflf Dil
»-
II
!<н.т->м> Ож-
Лиг,
-Inrn to Ann*.
-■-«
“ • i'¬
ll— 1 iJI l?« V.lltN
Hiliil it* C-.toV-xi 0
'i? .
Г<
Crflrwl i'l
-h. Nvure e V .
i- ini O’ <ti
Prof-i
чЛтц
fMi
«'«1 !
.Mat’d wt
"•'■'IT'IC T.nn
t O-dl. lU
«to* ibm In O-
l-t” . w.ib »i <idi*r
««
Worn, ipi i-li*b»"
II
4»
:h CUTS
:>
А*. П
R.H)
/.
1. ?. Protcflorof
Л- ■./«>
m the
Up in:4t'fi~,№ uAF R S
V
О
I. II
l. (I .V
/1
0 X:
* T Wood1-
лиг ч
:WZ»kO; • c*r
Si
/ь
4
Оль
m s->*
Title
Роде
of the book from Moseley's librory.
The book now is in the North Caroline Col¬
lection, UNC Librory.
Moseley's Bookplate
from American dealers, and, if pur¬
chased in England, he would naturally
have sent money and enlisted the help
of the Society in collecting them. It
may be that some of them were bought
from that notorious missionary of the
Society, John Urmstonc, whose only
virtue seems to have been a love of
books and a desire to accumulate them.
Urmstonc left North Carolina in 1721.
placing his affairs in the hands of
Moseley, just two years before the li¬
brary was offered to Edenton.
There is no evidence that the So¬
ciety for the Propagation of the Gos¬
pel showed any interest in Moseley’s
gift. He complained in 1725 that he
could get no answers to his letters
from them. In 1735. the Rev. John
Boyd said that he had no library in
Edenton.
Moseley probably retained the
books for his own library, taking them
with him when he moved to the Cape
Fear in 1735. attracted by the fertile
lands just being opened to settlers
there. His will mentions 200 law books
“exprest in a Catalogue of my Own
hand Writing, in a Marble Cover
Book" and about 150 other volumes
to be divided among his children.
The lone surviving volume of this
early book collector came to the North
Carolina Collection in the Stephen B.
Weeks Collection of Caroliniana pur¬
chased in 1918 by a special appropria¬
tion of the Board of Trustees of the
University. Dr. Weeks, another dis¬
tinguished book collector, has paid
tribute to Moseley, saying. "No man
did so much in colonial North Caro¬
lina toward advancing education and
culture.”
AmVimWAV/AWAVA’
ШотЫе
INC.
Oxxford Clothes
Hathaway Shirts
Cavanagh Hats
Kent All-Bristle Brushes
Krements Jewelry
Dunhill Toiletries
Countess Mara Ties
Expanso Belts
Cox -Moore, Ltd.
Sweaters and Hosiery
TDombU
Snt.
" The Quality Store lor
Men and Boy/'
W. Horgett Street
Raleigh, N. C
1 1
