You’re invited to a private tour of The Charleston Library Society.   Visit the historic Main Reading Room — offering an overview of the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries of the Library’s history.  Explore the Book Bindery and Conservation Lab as well as the Igor Shakespeare Library where we’ll have a firsthand look at some of the Library’s many treasures from the vault including:

• George Washington's letter to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (July 8, 1796) - Washington was an honorary member of the CLS and visited Charleston in 1791. This is a letter from Washington to CC Pinckney who was a President of the CLS.
• Doodles by Alexander Hamilton, which is part of the John Paul Jones collection and dates to 1794. These are doodles that Hamilton made on meeting notes while he was Secretary of the Treasury.
• Earthquake scrapbook compiled by Charleston Mayor Courtenay after the 1886 earthquake. This is part of a four-volume set and includes photos of the destruction, and telegrams from heads of state from all over the world, including Queen Victoria.
• Hamlet quarto dating to 1676
• Fourth folio - one of three issues of the fourth folio of Shakespear's comedies, histories, and tragedies. Dates to 1685, though the binding is a bit newer dating to circa 1800.

The collections of the Library Society stretch from the 15th century to the modern-day and include materials from around the world.  The Society paved the way for the founding of the College of Charleston in 1770 and provided the core collection of natural history artifacts for the founding of the Charleston Museum (the first in America) in 1773.