A gift of 71 first edition books by Elon faculty member Earl Honeycutt and his wife Laura will form the foundation of a new rare book collection at Belk Library. Details…
The first edition books have been in the family of Laura Williams Honeycutt for about 150 years, and have a total value of about $15,380. The most valuable book in the collection is an 1854 first edition copy of “Walden; Or, Life in the Woods” by Henry David Thoreau. Other books include an 1897 copy of “Following the Equator” by Mark Twain, and a set of books by Jules Verne dated from 1869 to 1924.
The books originally belonged to Laura’s great aunt and were eventually passed on to her father, Hamilton Williams. Earl Honeycutt says he and his wife wanted the books to be preserved, and decided to donate them to the Elon archives.
“We wanted the books to have a good home and be kept together,” Earl Honeycutt says. “Elon deserves a “Walden” and other rare books. We wanted to pass them on to people who will make good use of them.”
Library director Kate Hickey says this collection will become the center of a small, but growing collection of first edition books at Elon.
“This is going to set us off in a scholarly direction that we have not traveled before,” Hickey says. “Connie Keller will be the curator of this collection and have a small budget to make select additions in the future.”
Hickey says the books can be viewed by patrons by making an appointment with the library archives office. She says classes in several disciplines may want to view the books as part of their research.