A gift of 71 first-edition books by Elonfaculty member Earl Honeycutt and his wife, Laura, have formedthe foundation of a new rare book collection at Belk Library.
The first-edition books have been in the family of LauraWilliams Honeycutt for about 150 years, and have a totalvalue of about $15,380. The most valuable book in thecollection is an 1854 first edition copy of “Walden; Or,Life in the Woods” by Henry David Thoreau. Other booksinclude an 1897 copy of “Following the Equator” byMark Twain, and a set of books by Jules Verne dated from 1869to 1924.
The books originally belonged to Laura’s great aunt andwere eventually passed on to her father, Hamilton Williams.Earl Honeycutt says he and his wife wanted the books to bepreserved, and decided to donate them to the Elon archives.
“We wanted the books to have a good home and be kepttogether,” Earl Honeycutt says. “Elon deserves a”Walden” and other rare books. We wanted to passthem on to people who will make good use of them.”
Library director Kate Hickey says this collection is an important part of a small, but growing collection offirst-edition books at Elon.
“This is going to set us off in a scholarly directionthat we have not traveled before,” Hickey says.
Hickey says the books can be viewed by patrons by making anappointment with the library archives office. She saysclasses in several disciplines may want to view the books aspart of their research.