I've added two new fairly small but very interesting collections to the Libraries of Early America project this weekend:
- Hannah Lee Corbin (1728-1782): one of the "Virginia Lees," the sister of Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot Lee (among the bunch of other Revolutionary-generation Lees). Hannah was well educated at her family's plantation Stratford Hall, and would become a strong advocate of increased rights for women. Like Lady Jean Skipwith, Hannah had a long widowhood (she was married to Gawin Corbin from 1748 through 1759/60, and cohabited with Dr. Richard Lingan Hall until his death in 1774), and significant amounts of money, enabling her to purchase many books for pleasure reading (a large portion of her collection is novels). Her LT library is drawn from several invoices and inventories, for which many thanks to her descendent Dr. William McCarty for bringing them to my attention.
- John Fitzpatrick (~1737-1791): a British merchant who settled at Manchac, a small trading outpost north of New Orleans in the late 1760s and lived there until his death. His library, inventoried at his death (the first I've entered where the values are given in pesos and reales), contained twenty-five books, a selection of literature, history and commercial works.
The two share four titles: Rollin's Ancient history, Smollet's Peregrine Pickle, The spectator, and Pope's Works.
