occuiTccI tliioue;li 1750 (Appendix K). '1 Ins iisiomsli- 

 iiii» catalog, clisclusiiis; one of llu- lanjcst lihiaiii-s in 

 X'irginia at that time, reveals the catholicity of 

 Mercer's tastes and the inqiiirint; mind that lay 

 behind them. Included in the catalog are the titles 

 of perhaps the most important law lil)rar>- in the 

 colony. 



The names of all sorts of hooLs on husbandly and 

 agriculture arc to he found in the list: "Practice of 

 farmini;," "Houghton's Husbandly." "Monarchy of 

 the Bees," "Flax," "Gras,s," and Evelyn's "A Dis- 

 course of Sallcts." Mercer's interest in brewing, 

 which later was to launch a full-scale, if alxjrtive, 

 commercial enterprise is reflected in "London 

 Brewer." ".Scott's Distilling and Fermentation," 

 "Hops," and the "Hop Gardin," while "The Crafts- 

 man," "Woollen Manufacture," and "New Improve- 

 ments" indicate his concern with the efficiency of 

 other plantation activities. 



He displayed an interest in nature and science 

 ispical of an ISth-century man: "Bacon's Natural 

 I liston'," "Gordon's Cosmography," "Gordon's Geog- 

 r.iphy." ".Atkinson's Epitome of Navigation," "Oza- 

 mun's Mathematical Recreations," "Kciirs Astron- 

 omy," and ".Newton's Opticks." Two others were 

 "Baker's Microscope" and "Description of the 

 Micrixscopc &c." It may be significant that in 1747 

 Mercer bought three microscopes from one "Doctor 

 .Spencer" of Fredericksburg, the books on the subject 

 and the instruments themselves possibly having been 

 intended for the education of the three boys. 



"I.')U Prints of Ovid's Metamorphosis" appears, in 

 addition to "Ovid's Metamorphosis and 25 Sins," for 

 which Mercer paid £8 6s. to William Parks in 1746. 

 "C^atalog of Plants" and "Merian of Insects" are 

 other titles related to natural science 



Many IxKjks on histoiy and biograpli\ .m- listed 

 for example, "Life of Oliver CTomwell," "Lives of 

 the Popes," "Life of the Duke of .Xrgyle," "Hughes 

 Histoiy of Barbadoes," "Catholick Histoiy," "History 

 of \irginia," "Dr. Holde's History of Clhina, " "The 

 I'.nglish .Acquisitions in Guinea," "Purchas's Pil- 

 grimage." 



There arc 25 titles under "Physick & Surgery," 

 reflecting the planter's need to know the rudiments of 

 medical care for his slaves and family. .Art, architec- 

 tuie. and tra\el interested him also, and we find such 

 titles as "Noblemen's .Seats by Kip," "Willis's Sur\e^' 

 of the Cathedrals," "8 \iews of .Scotland," "Perrier's 

 Statues," "Pozzo's Perspective," "UH) N'iews of 

 Mrabant & Flanders." "HistorN of .Amphitheatres." 



1 here was but oni- title on music " I lie .M 

 Miscellany," mentioned previously. "Report 

 Silver Coins" was probably an English report on the 

 exchange rate of silver coinage in the various British 

 colonies. 



Mercer kept abreast of English literature of his own 

 and preceding generations: "Swift's 

 ".Spectator" and the "Tatler," "I 

 "Turkish Spy," "Tom Brown's Letters from the 

 Dead to the Living," "Pamela," "D.uid Sj 

 "Joseph .Andrews," ".Shakesjx-are's I'lavs,' i. 

 Jon-son's Works, " "Wychcrlcy's Plays," "Prior's 

 Works," "Savage's Poems," "Cbwley's Wj>rks," 

 and ".Select I'lays" (in 16 volumes), to mention but 

 a few. The classics arc well represented— "Lauder- 

 dale's Virgil," "Ovid's Art of Love," "Martial" (in 

 Greek), as well as a Greek grammar and a Greek 

 testament. There were the usual sermons and reli- 

 gious books, along with such diverse subjects as 

 "Alian's Tacticks of War," "Weston's Treatise of 

 Shorthand" and "Weston's Shorthand Copylxx)k," 

 and "Greave's Origin of Weights, &c." He sul)- 

 scribed to the London Magazine and the Grnllrman i 

 Magazine^ and received regularly the Virginia Gczrtlr. 



While most of Mercer's l>ooks were for intellectual 

 edification or factual reference, a few must have 

 served the purpose of sheer visual pleasure. Such 

 was Merian's magnificent quarto volume of hand- 

 colored engraved plati"s of Surinam iiwects, with 

 descriptive texts in Dutch. The 18th-century gentle- 

 man's taste for the elegant, the "curious," and the 

 aesthetically delightful were all satisfied in this 

 luxurious l)ook, which would have Ixrn placed 

 appropriately on a table for the plea.sure of Mercer's 

 guests.'"" 



I hi; ptrmoN 



.Although overseeing the construction of hi.-> ni.m^uMi. 

 buying the furniture for it, and assembling a splendid 

 library would have lieen suflicient to keep lesser men 

 busy, Mercer was al>sorbed in other activities as well. 

 On May 10. 1748. for example, he recorded in his 

 Journal that he went "to Raceground by James 

 Taylor's & Wid" Taliaferro's." "" traveling 50 miles 

 to do so. On December 13, 1748, he went "to 



'« Mahia Smvij-* Mkiii\-' 



it; ■■ 



i.ifmxi" w.-u probably Nir«. John 1 oluucrro vt i>po«>ylvaiua. 



43 



