Books About Carolina
Rruc*e Cotton, of Hnltimorc. unlive North
Cnrolinian. lias probably I lie largest col¬
lection in existence, lie has 1.839 items
cataloged, which is believed to be a record.
BRUCE COTTEN of Baltimore,
native and former resident of
North Carolina, owns prob¬
ably the largest private library of
books and pamphlets pertaining to
North Carolina to be found any¬
where in the country.
In an attractively-printed vol¬
ume of 175 pages, entitled “Housed
on the Third Floor." recently pub¬
lished for private distribution.
Mr. Cotten. a retired army officer,
writes of the reasons why he was
led to start collecting North Caro¬
linian». He describes some of the
most rare and important finds
among his 1,839 catalogued items,
and gives facsimile impressions of
100 of his most interesting title
PX dedication is to his mother,
the late Mrs. Sallie Southall Cot¬
ten of Cottendale. “Mother of the
North Carolina Federation of
Women’s Clubs," who, says the
author, "first proposed and always
encouraged me in this gentle pas¬
time.”
A Hard Beginning
When he was about 18 years old.
he relates, his mother, as one of
the Lady Managers for the Chicago
World’s Fair in 1891, conceived the
idea of displaying North Carolina
books in this state’s exhibit there.
After much work and research,
they collected about 20 volumes.
At that period, he says, there were
few libraries in the state and no
catalogued libraries of North Caro-
liniana. Nothing had been pub¬
lished on the subject, he reports,
and the best informed citizens
could not recall half a dozen books
published in North Carolina or
written by North Carolinians.
"This experience planted the
germ and desire in me to know and
to possess something of the books
and literature that had been pub¬
lished in and about my native
state." Mr. Cotten explains. His
accumulation grew slowly. During
army service he found about 200
volumes. After resigning from the
army, he called upon Dr. Stephen
B. Weeks, "The pioneer bibli-
ЖарЬег
and book collector of
rth Carolina."
«!/
GERTRUDE CARRAWAY
But Mr. Cotten did not try to
procure everything that indirectly
touched on North Carolina, as did
Dr. Weeks. He preferred to form
"a private, clean-cut. purely North
Carolina collection, embracing
everything of major interest that
has been published about our state
in every field."
After intensive study, perusing
more than 500,000 pages of old
book catalogues and keeping in
close contact with many dealers
and book-scouts. Mr. Cotten draws
the conclusion that North Carolina
is not a big literary field, "nothing
comparable to Virginia or to Mary¬
land, yet much of our stuff is most
difficult to find and *nany of our
choicest pieces are only known by
the existence of a single copy.”
Exclusive of laws and public docu¬
ments. he thinks that 2.000 selected
items would cover the entire field
of restricted North Caroliniana.
The earliest piece of “real Eng¬
lish-speaking Americana pertains
entirely to what is now North
Carolina." Mr. Cotten declares.
This is "A Brief and True Report
of the Newfoundland of Virginia,"
or the "Quarto Hariot," by Thomas
Hariot, printed at London in 1588.
But he docs not own a copy, for
only five perfect copies have' been
located.
•This was republished at Frank-
ford on Main in 1590 "at Theodore
De-Berry’s own cost and charge."
It was printed in English. French,
German and Latin, and made par¬
ticularly attractive by the 23 plates
of natives drawn bv Capt. John
White while with Sir Walter Ra¬
leigh's second expedition to Roa¬
noke Island in 1585. The English
edition is said to be "hopelessly
rare." but Mr. Cotten has a copy
of the Latin edition.
His two earliest pieces in Eng¬
lish were printed in 1682 and con¬
stitute endeavors of the Lords Pro¬
prietors to arouse interest in Caro¬
lina. One is. "An Account of the
Province of Carolina in America."
by Samuel Wilson. London, 1682;
the other is, "Carolina; or A De¬
scription of the Present Stale of
That Country," by T. A., printed
at London in 1682.
Mr. Cotton’s copy of "The Two
Charters Granted by King Charles
II to the Proprietors of Carolina."
probably printed at London in
1704. was the personal copy of
William. Earl of Craven, a Lord
Proprietor, for whom Craven
County was named.
Other Rare Works
The collection includes a copy of
John Lawson's "History of Caro¬
lina." first issued in 1709. with a
second edition in 1714 and two
German editions printed at Ham¬
burg in 1712 and 1722. There arc
also copies of John Brickell’s "The
Natural History of North Caro¬
lina," Dublin. 1737; "An Act for
the Establishing an Agreement
with Seven of the Lords Proprie¬
tors of Carolina for the Surrender
of Their Title and Interest in That
Province to His Majesty.” London.
1729; "The Natural History of
Carolina. Florida and the Bahama
Islands.” by Mark Catesby. Lon¬
don. 1771; two volumes written by
Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs,
who died at Brunswick. N. C., in
1765; and "A Tour in the United
States of America." by J. F. D
Smyth. London, 1784. with about
a fourth of the two volumes about
North Carolina.
The earliest North Carolina im¬
print that Mr. Cotten has located
anywhere is a copy of "The Jour¬
nal of the House of Burghesses. of
the Province of North Carolina.
In the Nineteenth Year of the
Reign of our Sovereign Lord
George the Second, by the Grace
of God. of Great Britain. France
and Ireland. King, Defender of the
Faith, etc..’’ printed at New Bern
in 1749 by James Davis, first state
printer.
The only known copy of this
journal. Mr. Cotten says, is at the
Public Records Office in London.
< Continued on page 28)
THE STATE Octoocr 6 1043
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