Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

[Box Number, Folder Number], MS-45, the Charles Meredith Civil War Imprint Collection, Book Arts, Archives, & Rare Books, Boatwright Memorial Library, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Meredith Collection was donated to the University of Richmond in 1977, given in memory of Charles V. Meredith and his son Bernard Meredith by Polly Brinton Meredith Young (widow of Bernard Meredith, then wife of Edwin P. Young). Charles Meredith was an 1871 graduate of the Richmond College School of Law and later a trustee of the College, as was his father. It was this association to the University that led Mrs. Young to donate the collection to Boatwright Library at the University of Richmond.

Processing Information

This collection was originally processed into the Galvin Rare Book Room book collection by individual items. The decision was made to rehouse these materials into an archival collection to better preserve the materials and reduce shelf space for the collection. The original catalog records and LOC numbers have been maintained. Items are also identified where possible by the (C number) drawn from Marjorie Lyle Crandall, "Confederate Imprints: A checklist based principally on the collection of the Boston Athenaeum," 1955. We modeled our inventory on the Confederate Imprint Collection at the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Vivian Meredith (1850-1930)

Born into an old and respected Virginia family, Charles V. Meredith was a distinguished Richmond lawyer who served for many years as Richmond city attorney and as a member of the 1901-1902 Convention. He also served on the publication committee for The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Charles's father, Judge John Alexander Meredith, assisted in surrendering Richmond to the Union Troops in 1865. C.V. Meredith graduated from Richmond College School of Law in 1871 in one of the first full classes following the Civil War and later served as a trustee for the institution as had his father. He married Sophie Gooding Rose, of Baltimore, MD, in 1877, and they had four children, one of whom died in childhood: Sophie, Kate, and Bernard.

Polly B. Young (1910-1997)

Polly Brinton Young of "Old Iron Point," Cobbs Creek in Mathews County, passed away on Feb. 10, 1997, in Florida at age 87. Born in Schenectady, N.Y., and raised in Winchester, she was the daughter of Edith Cushney Brinton and Peter Yates Brinton. She was predeceased by her beloved son, Thomas Brinton Harrison; and her husbands, Burr Powell Harrison, C. Bernard Meredith and Edwin P. Young. Mrs. Young was a member of Christ Church-Kingston Parish, National Association of Colonial Dames in America, Crickett Hill Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, the Surf Club and the Mathews Yacht Club.

Scope and Contents

The Meredith Collection is rich in primary and secondary source materials relating to the history of Virginia, with particular emphasis on the period of the Civil War. The collection dates back to the end of the Civil War and was started by Judge John Meredith, one of the city leaders who witnessed the fall of Richmond in 1865. The largest portion of the collection was brought together by his son, C.V. Meredith, and his grandson, Bernard Meredith.

The Confederate Imprint Collection as a whole contains approximately 500 Confederate Imprints, defined as materials printed in the Confederacy between 1861 and 1865. The two primary areas are the official publications of the Confederate government and non-official publications. Most of the official documents were printed in Richmond, but several items were printed by Army units in the field or by printers in other Southern states. The official broadside publications are primarily contained in this archival collection while the non-official publications, including military manuals, biographies, histories, description and travel volumes, and political and other pamphlets, maps, music, playbills, religious materials, and other items remain in the book section of the Galvin Rare Book Room.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically by date of publication; items with only a year are filed at the end of that particular year.

Separated Material

The Meredith Collection is a combination of Confederate Imprints including primarily books and broadsides. All materials in the collection have been cataloged into the Galvin Rare Book Room collection with the gift note identified as being from the Meredith Collection. In 2021, the decision was made to turn the broadside materials into an archival collection, but all materials remain in the catalog and in the Galvin Rare Book Room collection.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Broadsides
• Confederate States of America -- History