BYRD, WILLIAM (1674-1744), Virginia planter and first man of letters in North America, was born at Belvidere, near the James river in Virginia, on Mar. 28, 1674. After receiving his education for the law in England, he returned, in 1696, to West over, which he made "the quintessence of Virginia Aristocracy," and where he became one of the most brilliant figures in colonial Virginia. For 35 years he was a member of the King's Council, and during the last year of his life its president. He was one of the commissioners who established the North Carolina-Virginia boundary, and in 1733 founded Richmond, Va. Interested in art and science, a wit and a lover of books, he acquired probably the largest colonial library. Occasionally he forsook his fields of that "bewitching vegetable, tobacco," for the field of letters. His "Westover Manuscripts," first published in 1841, include : The History of the Dividing Line; A Journey to the Land of Eden; A Progress to the Mines. He died at Westover on Aug. 26, See The Writings of Colonel William Byrd of Westover in Virginia Esq., edit. by J. S. Bassett (New York, 19o1) .