William Gaston 1778-1844, anthropodermic bibliopegy by Henry G. Connor - 1924

William Gaston 1778-1844 (1926) By Henry G. Connor. This Book Is Not Supposed To Exist According To All Historical Accounts. This Full Hard Bound Copy With Litho Of William Gaston At The Start Is The Only Known Copy In Existence. Provenance: The William Gaston Collection. Connor A Known White Supremacist Was Not Keen Of Doing The Gaston Biography And That Is The Reason It Was Never Published. Gaston Was An Ardent Abolitionist. The Story Goes That The Gaston Family Had Some Damaging Information On Connor And That It Would Not Become Public As Long As Connor Agreed To Publish The Biography. This Copy Is Finely Bound And Printed On High Grade Light Grey Rag, The Pages Are Doublets. It Was Custom Bound By Connor For The Gaston Family But In The End He Still Refused To Copyright And Put Out For General Publication. See Historical Account Below. Apparently his unnoticed payback to the Gastons is that this volume is an example of anthropodermic bibliopegy, more specifically of someone with brown skin. Connor Was Always Conscious Of His Lack Of Formal Education, Which He Felt Rendered Him Unfit For Service As A University Trustee Or Professor, But In Reality His Devotion To His Work, Thorough Study, And Wide Reading Gave Him A Superior Education That Brought Him Respect As A Scholar Of Law And Of History. He Was Awarded The Ll.D. Degree By The University Of North Carolina In 1908. He Wrote A Number Of Articles On Lawyers And Legal History And A Biography Of John Archibald Campbell Published In 1902. He Planned A Biography Of William Gaston, For Which He Undertook Extensive Investigation, But He Completed Only Articles. He Refused A Professorship Of Law At The University Of North Carolina In 1899 And Again In 1922, When The Trustees Created The Thomas Ruffin Professorship Of Law Especially For Him. He Lectured In The Law School In The Summer Of 1923 And Was In Chapel Hill For The Same Purpose In 1924 When He Became Ill. He Died In Wilson And Was Buried There In Maplewood Cemetery. (Photos available later today