Special Collections Staff Picks

Source: Catalogue of the Library of John H. Wheeler (Joyner NC Rare Z997.W54 C27 1882)

Staff Person: Maury York

Description:
John Hill Wheeler (1806-1882), a native of Murfreesboro, N.C., was a noted lawyer, diplomat, and historian. He is perhaps best known for his book Historical Sketches of North Carolina, from 1584 to 1851. Wheeler amassed a substantial library that reflected his longstanding interest in the history of North Carolina, among other topics. This pamphlet contains a catalog of the collection, which was auctioned in New York City on April 24, 1882, less than a year before his death. In recent years historian Henry Louis Gates has been interested in Wheeler, who he believes once owned a female slave, Hannah Crafts, author of an unpublished novel entitled The Bondwoman’s Narrative. Gates contacted Joyner Library’s North Carolina Collection to obtain a copy of the Wheeler catalog, in the hope of finding literary titles in Wheeler’s library that may have influenced Craft.

Posted by Maury York under North Carolina Collection, advertisements, pamphlets and Tags: Bondwoman's Narrative, Hannah Crafts, Henry Lewis Gates, John Hill Wheeler