Nagelaten BibliotheekJefferson Davis

Lynda Lasswell Crist, "A Bibliographical Note: Jefferson Davis's Personal Library: All Lost, Some Found." The Journal of Mississippi History XLV:3 (August 1983), pp. 186-193

Crist's article notes that Davis' library, removed from his Brierfield plantation to the attic of a neighboring plantation belonging to Owen Cox, was looted by U.S. troops in July 1863. Davis' library was being kept in Cox's attic along with those of his brother Joseph, their sister Mrs. Bradford, and books belonging to a Mrs. Harris. In a 22 July 1863 letter to Davis, overseer Robert Melvin described the looting: "Boxes were torn open and emptied of their contents; books and papers were strewed over the yard and scattered through the woods for miles ..." (quoted in Crist, 189).