The latest addition to the ever-expanding Legacy Library universe is T.E. Lawrence, whose 1,181-title library was entered (in just two months) by Kordo, BGP, and Direlander. The collection, drawn from an inventory of Lawrence’s books made at the time of his death, is very rich and certainly worth a browse.

Lawrence’s books include a wide selection of title by authors such as W.B. Yeats (also a Legacy Library in progress), George Bernard Shaw, William Morris, D.H. Lawrence, Sir Basil Henry Liddell-Hart (ditto), Thomas Hardy, Stephen Crane and William Blake, plus many classical titles and fine press books (including a Kelmscott Chaucer).

Another recent completion (in keeping with the military theme) is Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., whose library was added to LT by sergerca and BOB81 from Roger Nye’s The Patton Mind. Not surprisingly, Patton’s books primarily concern military theory and practice.

The Libraries of Early America announcement brought a huge influx of suggestions for that project (at least forty new suggestions for collections, plus some additions to existing libraries). I’ve been thrilled by the response, and can report that some of the suggestions are already completed, with more underway. As a direct result of the project announcement, LT now includes the libraries of New York’s Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence (his books are now in the library of Yale Law School) and John Askin, a fur trader and local official in early Michigan. The colonial-era collection of the Pennsylvania General Assembly (partially purchased by Benjamin Franklin) has also been added, by LTer Melancthon.

2008 was an extremely productive year for the Legacy Libraries project, and we anticipate continued progress and advancement in the new year.

Labels: legacies, libraries of the dead