This guide seeks to highlight the rich collection of manuscript material in the Special Collections of the James Graham Leyburn Library at Washington and Lee University. It expands two previous editions issued in 1976 and 1983. Approximately half of the currently cataloged manuscript collections are discussed in this guide. Those chosen for inclusion are the most significant collections in our holdings though there are many others of potential research value. All the collections are currently accessible through Special Collections indexes. Collection level records are being added to the W&L Libraries on-line catalog, accessible via the Internet. The manuscripts in this guide are divided into seven general categories: the history of Washington and Lee, student life at Washington and Lee, Washington and Lee alumni, the Lee family, local history, the Civil War, and general sources. The numbers given after each collection are manuscript collection numbers by which the collections are arranged. The various names of the educational institution that is now Washington and Lee University are given throughout the guide. To assist the user in achieving historical order for these several incarnations the institutional names are: Augusta Academy (1749-1776), Liberty Hall Academy (1776-1798), Washington Academy (1798-1813), Washington College (1813-1871), and Washington and Lee University (1871-present). Throughout the guide an effort has been made to cross reference the manuscript collections with each other as appropriate and with other elements of our holdings in Special Collections. All illustrations are from photographs in Special Collections.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This guide has been funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund of Jacksonville, Florida. Our thanks go to the duPont Fund for their continuing support of educational initiatives in keeping with the wonderful ideals of Mrs. duPont. Dr. Taylor Sanders, Professor of History and University Historian, was kind enough to proofread this guide. My thanks go as well to Barbara Brown, University Librarian, and to Lisa McCown, longtime Special Collections Assistant, for their valuable suggestions.

And my appreciation is extended to Mary Woodson, Graphics Coordinator for Publications for Washington and Lee, for her expertise in making this guide a reality.

Vaughan Stanley

Special Collections Librarian

February 1995