Rare Book Notable Collections - DeRenne Collection

Wymberly Jones De Renne Georgia Library

Acquired by the University in 1938 from the De Renne family, the Wymberly Jones De Renne Georgia Library is the most complete collection of manuscript and printed materials relating to the early history of Georgia. The ten to fifteen thousand piece collection, once housed on the Wormsloe plantation, was begun in 1880 and consists of materials dating from Georgia's existence as a colony until the 1930s. The library is an invaluable source for the study of Georgia's history. Primary source documents touching various aspects of the state's history are included. For example, the collection contains the William B. Maxwell’s "The Mysterious Father," the first Georgia drama printed (Savannah, 1807) as well as letters and telegrams from General Robert E. Lee to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Sherman’s reply to the Mayor of Atlanta regarding the evacuation of the city.

One of a kind materials include the only known copy of the second Georgia Constitution of 1789, a 1780 Royal Georgia Gazette account of the Siege of Savannah, a rare satin broadside of the Ordinance of Secession of the Republic of Georgia as passed in 1861, and the only extant copy of "The Death Song of the Cherokee Indian," published in London in 1762.

The De Renne library also has a rich map collection. John Mitchell’s 1755 map of European dominions in North America and William Faden’s 1783 map of North America are among the many notable cartographic treasures in the collection. Additionally, many rare engravings are numbered within the library. Among the most well known of these is Peter Gordon’s view of Savannah as it stood March 29, 1734.

Click here to go to the online version of the Wymberley Jones De Renne Georgia Library Catalogue.