Two Gifts to Library
VALUABLE additions to Baker Library have recently been made through the generosity of Dr. Herbert B. Wilcox of Orford, N. H., who presented documents and letters of the inventor Samuel Morey, and Donald L. Stone, Professor of Government, who turned over rare items from his own library. Among the latter were a Shakespeare Third Folio, dated 1664; and first editions of Locke's Essay on HumaneUnderstanding, 1689; Raleigh's History ofthe World, 1614; and Boswell's Life ofSamuel Johnson, 1791.
The Samuel Morey documents contain ten original letters about patents issued to the inventor, the earliest being dated January 29, 1793, and signed by George Washington, for Morey's device "for turning a spit." James Madison signed the letter granting a patent for Morey's steam engine, and other patent letters were signed by James Monroe, John Adams, Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson. In addition the collection contains pamphlets and clippings pertaining to Samuel Morey's steamboat Aunt Sally, built by him and said to antedate Fulton's Clermont by 14 years. Charters for the town of Orford and its ferry, as well as early township plans and papers belonging to the Wilcox family make this gift of particular interest, locally and nationally. Dr. Wilcox, the donor, is the son of George Wilcox, Dartmouth 1860.
Other rare volumes presented by Professor Stone at this time were Wycherly's Poems and Satires, 1704; Camden's Britannia, first English edition, 1610; and works by Plutarch, Speed, Dryden, Wordsworth, Fox, Verlaine, Apuleius and Ronsard.
