ReSToRe THe pRoMISe
MacKenzIe lIbRaRy pRojecT Restoring the Historic First Library of the College of Charleston
In 1771, before it received its charter, the College of Charleston received its first donated book.
Rebuilding Mackenzie’s libRaRy
J
ohn Mackenzie, a Goose Creek planter and Charles Towne diplomat, donated his vast library to the Charleston Library Society until the laws debated for the creation of a college were passed. He buttressed his gift with a thousand pound contribution toward building and endowing the College. War broke out in 1776, and a fire consumed Charleston in 1778, burning nearly all the contents of the Library
Society; seventy-seven titles of Mackenzie’s library survived – scorched, yet intact – with the elegant gold stamp of his name a reminder of the man who wanted to endow the world with political liberty and freedom of thought. Now, the Friends of the Library plan to reassemble a lost treasure that was destined to establish the College’s library in the first place.
More than
800 books,
actually.
O
DISCOVERIng MACKEnZIE’S LEgACY
ne of the most remarkable men and one of the most remarkable libraries in colonial Carolina are at the center of this intellectual mystery. Though forgotten today, John Mackenzie of Charles Towne was one of the pre Revolutionary era’s most outspoken champions. Mackenzie boldly called on all levels of society to stand up to Great Britain’s Townsend Acts, taxing the colonies without representation.
A native of Charleston and educated at Cambridge, he was admitted to the Bar in 1759, became a planter and served in the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly. He was a hero to the “person in the street” for extending the right to vote as liberally as it ever was in this time. His death in 1771 prompted one poet to lament: “All social virtues fired his honest breast, but Public Love shone brighter than the rest.”
It was his private library that showed his public love best.
a HISToRIc collecTIon “The books range from poetry to prints, politics and planting, and span the globe and centuries...”
A
year after Mackenzie’s death, a list of the more than 800 volumes and 413 titles in his library was published. The place and publication date of each volume is listed, allowing us the opportunity to find the same editions that were destined for us. The books range from poetry to prints, politics and planting, and span the globe and centuries: published between 1633 and 1769, from Boston to Berlin, from Eton to
Edinburgh and in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. If they had survived the fire, they would have offered the College’s first students extraordinary access to the classics, sciences, and summaries of human achievements up to the 1770s. By the time of his death, his collection of books comprised the second most valuable library in the colony, according to South Carolina historian Walter Edgar.
ToDay’S pRojecT
T
oday, the Addlestone Library is Charleston’s most impressive academic research center; and now steps are being taken to fulfill the wishes of one of its most distinguished founders. Through a combination of acquisition and restoration, the Friends of the Library plan to rebuild the Mackenzie Library, opening a remarkable door into time and providing a glimpse into the mind and mindset of a great collector.
...the Friends of the Library plan to rebuild the Mackenzie Library, opening a remarkable door into time...
SelecT woRKS FoR acQuISITIon m Unknown. The Builder’s Dictionary, 1734
m Sheridan, Thomas and Swift, Jonathan. The Intelligencer, 1729
m Burke, Edmund. Account of Settlements in America, 1758
m Le Blanc, Jean-Bernard. Letters on the English and French Nations, 1747
m Butler, Samuel. The Genuine Remains in verse and prose of Samuel Butler, 1759
m Mackenzie, James. The History of Health and the Art of Preserving It, 1759
m Chaucer. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 1721
m Swift, Jonathan. The History of Last Four Years of the Queen, 1758
m Dickson, Adam. Treatise of Agriculture, 1762
m Voltaire. The Philosophy of History, 1766
m Huxham, John, M.D. An Essay on Fevers, 1757
m Webb, Daniel. An Inquiry into Beauties of Painting, 1760
For the complete list please visit
blogs.cofc.edu/fol/mackenzie
How you can Help SpecIFIc acQuISITIon SuppoRT Sponsor the acquisition of a title that is special to you. View the Mackenzie Library Project wish list: blogs.cofc.edu/fol/mackenzie.
GeneRal acQuISITIonS SuppoRT Support the project and allow the library staff to acquire titles in furtherance of the acquisition strategy of the Mackenzie Library Project.
conSeRVaTIon SuppoRT Sponsor an original Mackenzie volume currently on hand but in desperate need of conservation and restoration.
GIFTS-In-KInD Contribute a book on the wish list in-kind. Tax-deductible contributions to the College of Charleston Foundation through in-kind gifts are possible.
SU P P ORT T HE
MacKenzIe lIbRaRy pRojecT Please contact Jenny Fowler: fowlerj@cofc.edu or 843.953.6620 or visit blogs.cofc.edu/fol/mackenzie. *All illustrations found in volumes from the Mackenzie Library.