The James Henry Hall, Jr. Collection of Thomas Wolfe was presented to the library for the Rare Book Room in 1988 by Dr. Hall’s daughter, Mrs. Richard Huddleston. A 1927 Davidson graduate, professor of English at Virginia Tech, and admirer of the famous writer, Dr. Hall spent a number of years collecting books, manuscripts, letters, and articles by Wolfe. In 1997, a second donation from Mrs. Sadler Hayes of New York City increased the holdings of the Thomas Wolfe Collection.
Born in Asheville, NC on Oct. 3, 1900, Thomas Wolfe was highly educated, graduating with a BA from UNC-CH in 1920 and an MA from Harvard in 1922. Although inspired to be a playwright, Wolfe had little success in that genre. He taught English at Washington Square College (part of NYU) from 1924-1930, and also began making trips to Europe in order to write fiction. By the spring of 1928 he had written his first novel, O Lost, which, when edited by the famous Maxwell Perkins, became Look Homeward, Angel, published by Scribner’s in 1929 with Wolfe’s family and friends serving as the basis for the characters. Of Time and the River, a sequel to Look Homeward Angel was published in 1934. The work which most of the general public associates with Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again, was published posthumously in 1940 and edited by Edward Aswell at Harper Bros. Although critics have debated Wolfe’s literary skill, his works remain securely in the canon of 20th century U.S. authors.
Look Homeward, Angel: a Story of the Buried Life. New York: Scribner’s, 1929.
First edition, and autographed by Thomas Wolfe to Jay Hall with note, Sept. 12, 1937.
Of Time and the River; a Legend of Man’s Hunger in his Youth. New York: Scribner’s, 1935.
First edition. In dust jacket and inscribed to Jay Hall with note.
You Can’t Go Home Again. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1940. 
First edition. In dust jacket and inscribed to Jay Hall from Edward C. Aswell, Aug. 29, 1949.
The Tar Heel. Chapel Hill, NC. Our copy is vol. 28, no. 1 – vol. 28, no. 30, 1919-1920 when Thomas Wolfe was the editor.
From Death to Morning. New York: Scribner’s, 1935.
Autographed and inscribed to Jay Hall, Sept. 12, 1937.
Letter from Maxwell Perkins.
Letter on Scribner’s stationary dated March 23, 1939 and signed by Maxwell Perkins as executor of the Wolfe estate.