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The Wolf Law Library
@wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
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The Wolf Law Library 🐺⚖️📚 at William & Mary 🤴👸 Law School, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Serving our students, faculty, and community by promoting the advancement of legal scholarship with access to the law and law-related resources in print, and online.
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When the Wythe Room opened in 2015, the George Wythe Collection contained 329 titles, with 669 volumes. In the past 10 years, the collection has expanded to *374* titles, with *745* volumes: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Ge...
Welcome to the Dedication of the Wolf law Library's George Wythe Room (2015). Dedication of the George Wythe Room, November 13, 2015. The George Wythe Room, 2015. The George Wythe Room, 2015.
November 12, 2025 at 8:16 PM
wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
Our George Wythe Room opened 10 years ago this week, on November 13, 2015. The space for a re-creation of Wythe's library was custom-built in what was previously the library's "Self Help" room: www.flickr.com/photos/wolfl... #WytheWednesday
The Wolf Law Library, Self Help Room, 2008. Coming Soon: The George Wythe Room (2013). Coming Soon: The George Wythe Room (2015). The George Wythe Room, 2015.
November 12, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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George Wythe signed on page two, in 1776! wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Ag...
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM
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Homer was (by far) Wythe's favorite author: Wythe owned two separate sets of 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' in Greek and English, another in both Greek and Latin, as well as an additional 'Odyssey' in Greek, and another 'Iliad' in Greek and Latin: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Ca...
Title page from volume one of 'The Odyssey' of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope (London: Printed for Henry Lintot, 1752). George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
October 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
The 1750 edition is extensively illustrated with original engravings. Please visit our Flickr page to see more (a lot more!): www.flickr.com/photos/wolfl...
Frontispiece for volume one of 'The Iliad' of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope (London: Printed for Henry Lintot, 1750). George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. Illustration and text from volume one of 'The Iliad' of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope (London: Printed for Henry Lintot, 1750). George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
October 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
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The library's newest acquisition for George Wythe's Library: a six-volume, 1750 set of Homer's 'Iliad,' translated by Alexander Pope, in contemporary binding. Wythe's copy of v.1 (with his bookplate) survives at the Jefferson Library at Monticello: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Il... #WytheWednesday
Spines from 'The Iliad' of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope (London: Printed for Henry Lintot, 1750). George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. Title page for volume one of 'The Iliad' of Homer, translated by Alexander Pope (London: Printed for Henry Lintot, 1750). George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
October 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
Halloweenies! It's time for the Law Library's annual Halloween Cookout: Friday, October 31st. Free hot dogs (and veggie dogs for those so inclined) and soft drinks, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM (or while 'dogs last!) on the law school patio!
A ghost! Halloweenies, and spooky spiderwebs! HALLOWEEN COOKOUT hosted by the Wolf Law Library, Friday October 31st, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM on the law school's Patten Family Courtyard (the patio). Free hot dogs, veggie dogs, and soft drinks.
October 24, 2025 at 1:37 PM
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The secret drawer was found! Huzzah! But it was EMPTY. Booo! The search for George Wythe's cufflinks must continue...
Hidden drawer in an American walnut Chippendale secretary bookcase, made about 1770.
October 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
#OTD in 1775, Peyton Randolph died suddenly in Philadelphia, while representing Virginia at the Second Continental Congress.

In late November, George Wythe was elected to replace Randolph at Virginia's Fourth Convention: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Vi...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgini...
Peyton Randolph by Charles Willson Peale, 1782. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peyton_Randolph_by_Charles_Willson_Peale,_1782.jpg Detail from the 'Virginia Gazette' (Dixon & Hunter), December 2, 1775, p. 3
October 22, 2025 at 5:51 PM
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George Wythe and his wife Elizabeth (as well as Francis Lightfoot Lee and Thomas Nelson. Jr., and their wives) were inoculated against smallpox with the widely-used cowpox vaccine in Philadelphia, in September, 1775: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Vi...
Wellcome Library, London via Wikimedia Commons. Edward Jenner among patients in the Smallpox and Inoculation, coloured etching after J. Gillray, 1802. https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-smallpox-vaccination
October 20, 2025 at 1:29 PM
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Wythepedia Investigates: The Case of George Wythe's Cufflinks. 🔎 Is there a pair of cufflinks which belonged to a Founding Father in a secret drawer in the W&M President's house? Did George Wythe wear shirts with French cuffs? Stay tuned! digital.libraries.wm.edu/node/347859 #WytheWednesday
Joy Hutzel, "President's House Has Enchanting Past." 'Flat Hat,' March 26, 1964, p. 11: "In the same room stands an American walnut Chippendale secretary bookcase, made about 1770. A secret drawer still contains an ancient pair of cuff links; the initials "GW" on them lead to the conclusion that they belonged to either George Washington or, more likely, George Wythe."
October 15, 2025 at 6:49 PM
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The author of the 1922 article was Robert Beverley Munford, Jr., the great-grandson of William Munford, one of George Wythe's pupils. "Bob" Munford was a long-time obituary editor for the Richmond 'News Leader': www.virginiachronicle.com?a=d&d=RNL195...
Obituary for Robert Beverly Munford, Jr., Richmond 'News Leader, June 25, 1952, p. 10.
October 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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#OTD in 1922, there appeared in the Richmond 'Times-Dispatch' an "Intimate Pen Picture of George Wythe," regretting 'that those who were qualified to produce a complete biography of this learned man and noble character have long since passed away.' wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/In... #WytheWednesday
Robert B. Munford, Jr.'s biographical sketch of Wythe, "Intimate Pen Picture of George Wythe; His Tragic Death," for the Richmond 'Times-Dispatch' (Richmond, VA), October 8, 1922, p. 6.
October 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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We have a late addition! "Wythe Urges Virginia to Ratify Constitution":
"Wythe Urges Virginia to Ratify Constitution." June 24, 1788. 1988 U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Covers.
October 7, 2025 at 12:27 PM
wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
The library's U.S. Supreme Court Justice bobblehead of John Blair (from 'The Green Bag' collection) is part of our "Nod to the Supreme Court: Books and Bobbles" exhibit, now in the library's Rare Book Room (through March, 2026).
"A Nod to the Supreme Court: Books and Bobbles," in the Wolf Law Library's Nicholas J. St. George Rare Book Room through March, 2026: https://law.wm.edu/library/collections/rarebooks/ "A Nod to the Supreme Court: Books and Bobbles," in the Wolf Law Library's Nicholas J. St. George Rare Book Room through March, 2026: https://law.wm.edu/library/collections/rarebooks/
October 1, 2025 at 4:13 PM
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This handsome fellow is John Blair, Jr. (1732–1800). Blair was one of six justices appointed by George Washington to the first U.S. Supreme Court in 1789. He served alongside George Wythe as a judge for Virginia's High Court of Chancery from 1780–1788: www.oyez.org/justices/joh... #WytheWednesday
The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States (Artist: Ruth Koppang): https://www.oyez.org/justices/john_blair Bobblehead for Justice John Blair (1790; 2013), part of 'The Green Bag' U.S. Supreme Court Justice bobblehead collection: https://www.greenbag.org/bobbleheads/bobbleheads.html
October 1, 2025 at 4:13 PM
wolflawlibrary.bsky.social
"'[T]he extreme danger of dissolving the Union' makes ratification of the Constitution imperative." Also new are two envelopes issued in 1988, for the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Visit our Wythe Ephemera collection in the 1st floor locker lounge, in the library behind the main stairs!
"Wythe's message is clear: 'the extreme danger of dissolving the Union' makes ratification of the Constitution imperative, with amendments to be added later." 1988 U.S. Constitution Covers. "Wythe Calls for Ratification. Acknowledging a need for future changes, George Wythe urged ratification." 1988 U.S. Constitution Covers.
September 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
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New George Wythe ephemera! The library has a small collection of commemorative postcards, coins, trading cards, and even a miniature Wythe House. This postcard is from a series celebrating the 1976 bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Bi... #WytheWednesday
"Wyeth [sic] held the first law professorship." First day cover postcard for June 20, 1985, with a cachet for George Wythe. Signed, "Marika."
September 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
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We have a second copy in our Special Collections, which belonged to Thomas Ball (1836–1917), Texas state senator, assistant Texas attorney general, and special U. S. attorney, who defended the Kiowa war chiefs, Satanta and Big Tree, in 1871. catalog.libraries.wm.edu/permalink/01...
Thomas Ball III: Counsel for defendants, Satanta and Big Tree. Subsequently member Texas Senate; Assistant Attorney General of Texas and Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. Died, Los Angeles, California, May 11, 1917.
September 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
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Here's a profile we recognize! George Wythe, in a catalog for 'Loan Exhibition of Portraits of the Signers and Deputies to the Convention of 1787 and Signers of the Declaration of Independence' (1937). The original is owned by Colonial Williamsburg: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Lo... #WytheWednesday
Cut silhouette of George Wythe, by Charles Wilson Peale and Moses Williams, c. 1803. Corcoran Gallery of Art, ''Loan Exhibition of Portraits of the Signers and Deputies to the Convention of 1787 and Signers of the Declaration of Independence'' (Washington, D.C.: Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, 1937), 171. Original at the Colonial Williamsburg Rockefeller Library Special Collections.
September 17, 2025 at 7:10 PM
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Ah-ha! But here we have a 1754 Wythe letter to Daniel Parke Custis (Martha Washington's first husband), signed fully: "George Wythe."
September 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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Is this document a clever forgery? 'The only genuine Wythe autograph recalled by the writer to have been signed "George Wythe" (instead of the usual "G. Wythe") is that on the Declaration of Independence, which would be a counterfeiter's most available source.' wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Ge...
Image of Declaration of Independence taken from the engraving made by printer William J. Stone in 1823.
September 10, 2025 at 7:07 PM
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#OTD in 1761: George Wythe summons witnesses to appear before him or "some other Justice" for Loudoun County, Virginia, regarding illegal gambling in a tavern. There is no other record of Wythe employed as a justice for Loudoun (established in 1757): wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Or... #WytheWednesday
Catalog listing of "Order to the Sheriff of Loudoun County, 10 September 1761," v. 1, p. 50, The History of America in Documents: Original Autograph Letters, Manuscripts and Source Materials (Philadelphia: The Rosenbach Company, 1949). Wythe was not "Sheriff," as the summary suggests. Detail of Wythe's signature on the order. In "Rosenbach, A. S. W. (Abraham Simon Wolf), 1876-1952, collector. Signers of the Declaration of Independence," the Rosenbach Museum & Library.
September 10, 2025 at 7:07 PM
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"[S]ome of the strongest testimony exhibited before the called court and before the grand jury, was kept back from the pettit jury. The reason is, that it was gleaned from the evidence of negroes, which is not permitted by our laws to go against a white man." Richmond 'Enquirer,' September 9, 1806:
Detail from page three of the Richmond 'Enquirer' for September 9, 1806.
September 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM
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On Sept. 2, 1806, George Wythe Swinney was acquitted of the murders of his great-uncle, George Wythe, and Wythe's freedman protégé, Michael Brown. #OTD, Sept. 3, 1806, Swinney was charged with forgery, but was ultimately acquitted, as well: wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php/Ex... #WytheWednesday
Engraved portrait George Wythe by J.B. Longacre, from the 'William and Mary Quarterly,' 3rd ser., 12, no. 4 (October 1955), 512. W. Edwin Hemphill, "Examinations of George Wythe Swinney for Forgery and Murder: A Documentary Essay," 'William and Mary Quarterly' 3rd ser., 12, no. 4 (October 1955), 543-574.
September 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM