De Renne collection of portraits and engravings, 1723-1909

Summary

Creator:
De Renne family
Date:
1723-1909
Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet 2 boxes and 40 oversize folders
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

De Renne collection of portraits and engravings, ms3704, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of forty engravings, lithographs, photographs and other prints of images depicting individuals and locations central to Georgia history.

Biographical / historical:

George Wymberley Jones De Renne (1827-1880) was known for his collection of over 1300 volumes collected from 1844-1861; most of these texts pertained to Georgia history. The grandson of one of the first colonists in Georgia, Noble Wymberley Jones, De Renne created his new last name as a means of avoiding confusion in identification between himself and other family members prominent in Georgia. De Renne had three children with his wife, Mary Wallace Nuttall De Renne: Wymberley Jones De Renne (1853-1916), Letitia De Renne (1860-1890), and Kentwyn De Renne (1862-1891), who continued their father's legacy of collecting and printing books related to Georgia's history. The library was then transferred to Wymberley Jones De Renne's son, Wymberley Wormsloe De Renne, who strived to fill any "significant vacancies on the shelves" as well as to produce a catalogue of the library. The library was sold to the Regents at the University of Georgie in 1939. Savannah, GA was the central location of the Jones/De Renne family; their plantation estate, Wormsloe, was located only a few miles outside of the city.

For more information, please see William Harris Bragg's "De Renne: three Generations of a Georgia Family" and the New Georgia Encyclopedia's article De Renne Family.

Access and use restrictions

Preferred citation:

De Renne collection of portraits and engravings, ms3704, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.