guide to the manuscript collections in the archives of the north carolina historical commission

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Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the Archives of the North Carolina Historical Commission Review by: J. M. J. The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 1943), p. 232 Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1922449 . Accessed: 18/12/2014 07:54 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The William and Mary Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:54:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the Archives of the North Carolina Historical Commission

Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the Archives of the North Carolina HistoricalCommissionReview by: J. M. J.The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 1943), p. 232Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and CultureStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1922449 .

Accessed: 18/12/2014 07:54

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserveand extend access to The William and Mary Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:54:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the Archives of the North Carolina Historical Commission

232 WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY

those branches associated with the counties of Botetourt, King Wil- liam, and Caroline. Much new material, giving evidence of careful research, is presented and light is shed on a number of problems that members of his family will find interesting. It is worthwhile to note that in spelling this name, the following variations have been ob- served: Sizer, Sizar, Cizer, Seizer, Syzer, Syzar, Sizor, Sisar, and Cesar.

J. M. J.

GUIDE TO THE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COM- MISSION. Raleigh, The North Carolina Historical Comnmission, 1942. 216 pages.

With an indispensable and well-organized index, this guide serves as a key to one of the oustanding collections of Southern Americana. As a sur- vey of resources it reflects most favourably on the North Carolina Historical Commission, and as an inventory of manuscripts it does credit to its com- pilers, the North Carolina Historical Records Survey Project. Over 800 personal and other collections, comprising thousands of letters, diaries, ac- count books, and other papers, are listed, each being the subject of brief descriptive notes. When used in conjunction with recently published guides to other collections located in North Carolina, the student of American his- tory finds himself provided with an authoritative conception of the research materials available for use in that state.

J. M.J.

JOHN PARADISE AND LUCY LUDWELL OF LONDON AND WILLIAMSBURG. By Archibald Bolling Shepperson. The Dietz Press, Incorporated, Richmond, Virginia, 1942. 501 pages, $4.00. (An Official Publication of Colonial Williamsburg).

John and Lucy Ludwell Paradise were failures in many of the meanings which that word connotes. To be specific, their lives were full of disappoint- ments; they were unhappily married; and they learned what it meant to be hounded by creditors. The world neither then nor now would have ac- claimed them successful. They had attributes of greatness. A bright future might have been forecast for them when the wealthy daughter of the Vir- ginia Ludwell family married in London on May 18, 1769, the brilliant son of the well-to-do "colonial", Peter Paradise, formerly British consul at Salonica in Macedonia. But the impractical, headstrong, ill-tempered Lucy Ludwell needed a firmer master than the gentle, scholarly linguist, John Paradise. She plagued him and he failed to curb her extravagancies in matters both social and economic. Their marriage is the most obvious reason for their failure; though, independently of each other, they probably would not have known success.

John and Lucy Ludwell Paradise were persons of consequence which accounts for the fact that Colonial Williamsburg has published the results of Mr. Shepperson's years of research in the minutiae of their private lives. The Dictionary of Nationd Biography has a sketch of John Paradise in which the eccentricities of his wife were mentioned. Therein John Paradise was described as a "friend of Dr. Johnson." It was John Paradise's genius for friendship which makes him and his wife important historically. The Paradises were intimately acquainted with those whom the world has ac- claimed as great. Besides Dr. Johnson, a few of the American and British

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:54:02 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions