Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 12, 1990 TAG: 9005120413
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE:
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Short
John M. Topham of Pittsford, N.Y., made the donations in memory of two members of his family - his father, John Marshall Topham, and uncle, George Stephen Topham.
The books are Captain John Smith's "The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles," printed in London in 1632, based mostly on Smith's observations during his stay in Virginia from 1606 to 1609 and his exploration of the New England coast from 1610 to 1617, and Robert Beverley's "The History of Virginia," published in London in 1722 as the first history of the colony of Virginia written by a native Virginian.
Both books contain detailed engraved illustrations, including an engraved title page and map in "General Historie" and illustrations of Indian life in the volume by Beverley.
Topham, a Wytheville native, is the great-grandson of Joseph Topham, who once owned the Hedgefield farm where Wytheville Community College is now situated in east Wytheville. He is the author of a book of his own, "Traditional Crafts of Saudi Arabia."
He donated the two volumes "to stimulate interest in the early history of Virginia and in fine books," he said, and to enrich the Kegley Library, which contains mostly historical materials from the late Bittle Kegley, who was closely related to the Tophams.
Topham had earlier donated the Fry and Jefferson Map of Virginia and Maryland to the library.
- Southwest bureau
by CNB