Even in Biltmore House, where so many rooms are filled with amazing collections of beautiful things, the Library still shines as a special place. George Vanderbilt was a remarkable man, and it’s fascinating to learn more about him through the creation of his magnificent and enduring library at Biltmore.

Learn more about George Vanderbilt’s tastes and interests with this look at some noteworthy books that form the Biltmore House Library collection.

An up-close look at leather-bound books in the collection

Logging literary pursuits

When he was 12, George Vanderbilt began recording the names of each book he read in a journal, and he continued that habit throughout his life. If we look at any representative year, we get a sense of the breadth of his intellect. In 1899, Mr. Vanderbilt read a total of 51 books: 31 were novels, including The Two Magies and The Awkward Age by Henry James and Antonia or the Fall of Rome by Wilkie Collins. 

The non-fiction list from that year is just as fascinating and includes The Renaissance in Italy (a two-volume study by J. A. Symonds); Oceana or England and Her Colonies by James Anthony Froude;  and Human Immortality: Four Supposed Objections to the Doctrine and The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by Henry James’ brother William.

Detailed look at a large bookpress in Library in Biltmore House

A man of many interests

By the time of his death, George Vanderbilt had collected more than 23,000 volumes. Approximately one-third of the volumes were antiquarian purchases, with the oldest appearing to be an Italian work published in 1561. The major strengths of the collection are 19th-century English and American literature, art and architecture; travel, philosophy and religion; history; and French fiction and non-fiction reflecting both his and his wife’s interest in France and their fluency in the French language.

Most of the books George Vanderbilt collected were sent to one of the great bookbinders of the period, such as Riviere, Stikeman, Lortic, or David.  A few months later they would be returned beautifully bound in Moroccan leather, with gilt lettering and decoration, to be placed on the shelves of the Biltmore House Library.

Lithograph from Thomas McKenney and James Hall’s History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1844.

Rare Biltmore Library collections

The Biltmore House Library contains Thomas McKenney and James Hall’s History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Our volumes are the original large folio edition, published in 1844, and contain a full set of the original 120 hand-colored lithographs, which have remarkably retained their vibrancy despite being 180 years old.

This work is widely regarded as one of the most significant publications on Native Americans ever produced, as well as one of the most important color plate books of the 19th century. It provides a remarkable glimpse into the lives and appearances of Native American leaders during a pivotal time in American history and of Biltmore’s earliest inhabitants.

Tragically, many of Charles Bird King’s original oil paintings, from which these folio prints were created, were destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian in 1865. The rarity of the original folio printing, combined with its historical significance and the unfortunate destruction of the source material, makes this set an invaluable part of our collection.

Other notable works include the complete set of James Audubon’s The Birds of America and The Quadrapeds of America. The copies are unusual in that they are the smaller octavo edition, not the very large elephant folio edition so prized by print collectors. What makes Biltmore’s set particularly interesting is that they are bound with the original paper wrappers that accompanied each part as Audubon’s publisher issued them.

You may not realize it from her position, but one of the significant figures in Biltmore’s past is Emily Rand King, who served as housekeeper and head of staff for the Vanderbilts from 1897–1914.

Learn about the life of Biltmore’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. King, in this blog.

Housekeeper’s room in Biltmore House.

Three things to know:

• Although we don’t have photographs of her, there is a great deal of correspondence in the Biltmore archives concerning Mrs. King.

• She was always referred to as “Mrs.” King, although we believe she was unmarried while working at Biltmore. The title was likely a courtesy used to reflect a level of authority, age, and respect—similar to “Mrs. Hughes,” the head housekeeper in Downton Abbey.

• Housekeepers of the time were responsible for managing a large staff and keeping track of household expenses in addition to maintaining most aspects of daily life in the home.

Vignette of Mrs. King and Edith Vanderbilt in the Oak Sitting Room as displayed in the 2019 exhibition, “A Vanderbilt House Party.”

Early Life & Arrival to Biltmore

Emily King was born December 7, 1853, in the village of Horndon on the Hill, Essex County, England. By her early 20s, she worked as a domestic servant for a London physician.

Sometime prior to August 1897, she traveled to New York on her way to Biltmore, where she joined several English servants on the estate, including the valet, four butlers, a cook, a housemaid, and a coachman. Adding further international flair to the household was an Irish butler, French chef, Swedish laundress, and Italian stable boss.

Biltmore’s archives make it clear Mrs. King was responsible for cleaning the house, caring for the staff, hiring and firing staff members, and also coordinating many aspects of the family’s lives such as meeting with the Vanderbilts each morning to review the chef’s suggested menus and plan for guest activities, then meeting with the Chef and Head Butler to review the plans. She and the Head Butler supervised all staff except for the kitchen staff who worked for the Chef.

During the family’s frequent travels, Mrs. King stayed behind with the Head Butler to ensure the smooth operation of the house, including making arrangements for special guests staying at Biltmore in the family’s absence and preparing the house for their return. She also extended social invitations for Mrs. Vanderbilt, serving as a personal secretary of sorts.

As a high-ranking member of Biltmore’s domestic staff, Mrs. King was provided with horses for her use and was allowed to keep her own dogs in Biltmore House—the dog gate still exists in the Kitchen Hallway that Mrs. Vanderbilt installed to keep the housekeeper’s dogs out.

Detailed view of Mrs. King’s clothing recreation as displayed in “A Vanderbilt House Party” in 2019.

Life After Biltmore

Soon after George Vanderbilt’s death in 1914, Emily King resigned and embarked upon a new life. She met and married W.C. Jones, a widowed farmer from near Raleigh, NC, and moved to Pennsylvania to be near family. Sometime later that year, the couple purchased an orange grove near Apopka, FL. In December 1914, estate superintendent Chauncey Beadle wrote a note of thanks for the box of oranges Mrs. Jones sent to Biltmore for the holidays.

Biltmore curators learned that Emily King Jones purchased and managed a boarding house in Apopka, which she named the Biltmore Inn, and operated it until the early 1920s.

After retiring from a lifetime of serving others, Mrs. Jones returned to Pennsylvania, where she resided until her death in 1926.

The typical duties of a Vanderbilt-era valet included attending to their employer, especially assisting with dressing and preparing for the day, much like a lady’s maid. They would often travel with their employer, arranging for accommodations and transportation and managing luggage.

While we do not have a lot of information about Mr. Vanderbilt’s valets over the years, we do know a bit about one in particular named Wilfred Shackley including:

• He was employed by George Vanderbilt from around 1900-1906.
• It is believed that his wife, Madeleine Henry Shackley, was the Mademoiselle Henry that was once Edith Vanderbilt’s lady’s maid.
• Wilfred Shackley was English and was engaged by Mr. Vanderbilt while abroad in 1899.
• He spoke German and French fluently, which was highly beneficial given how widely he would travel alongside Mr. Vanderbilt.

Recreation of clothing worn by George Vanderbilt’s valet as it was displayed in “A Vanderbilt House Party” exhibition in 2019. Over his arm is a driving duster, as if he is assisting George prepare for a drive across his estate.

Fascinating glimpses into the life and times of Mr. Shackley

In researching the domestic staff who worked for the Vanderbilts, our Museum Services team uncovered a 1973 newspaper article in the Hendersonville Times-News about Wilfred George Shackley.

“Few people have been able to cram into their lifetime book of memories as many world trips, as many confrontations with kings and potentates and as much hobnobbing with world celebrities as Wilfred G. Shackley of Flat Rock who celebrated his 98th birthday last week.

“Sleeping in the White House at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt, meeting Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and King Edward of England and traveling around the world with millionaire George Vanderbilt, original owner of Biltmore House are only a few of the highlights of Shackley’s career.

“Born in June 17, 1875 Shackley attended school in England and came to the United States when he was 15 years old. When he came to this country he worked and attended night school and learned accounting, bookkeeping and typing. When he was 19 years old a cotton broker engaged him to go to Shanghai with him.

“He was there eight months and returned to London wearing the white type of clothing usually worn in China.

“When he checked in at the hotel where he usually stayed the clerk greeted him and said ‘You’re just the man we are looking for.’ He added ‘There’s a millionaire here from America looking for someone to travel around the world and keep his records.’

“Shackley says he was introduced to Vanderbilt and when the millionaire learned he spoke several languages he immediately hired him. He said ‘we leave for Paris day after tomorrow.’ Shackley said he told Vanderbilt it would be impossible because all the clothing he had was light clothing he brought from the Orient. Vanderbilt postponed the start of the journey ten days for Shackley’s convenience.

“The Flat Rock retiree spent a number of years traveling with Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt, keeping records of their travels, purchases and other details. Among the countries visited were Russia, Germany, France, Holland, Italy, China, Japan, the Philippines and Canada.

“In his travels Vanderbilt was seeking art treasures, tapestries, statuary, works in silver and gold and historic treasures.

“Shackley has also played chess with a set of chessmen which Napoleon used while he was imprisoned at St. Helena. Vanderbilt acquired the set and it is a part of the possessions at Biltmore House.”

George Vanderbilt’s friend James McHenry gifted him a chess set made of natural and red-stained ivory that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte, former emperor of France. Photo credit: @Kristen.Maag

Life after Biltmore

After leaving service at Biltmore, Shackley went to work for a Wall Street bond company, later selling bonds in Paris. He served in World War II with the War Department then became vice president of Henry Rump and Sons, a wholesale fruit and vegetable business founded by his father-in-law. The Shackleys ran this business until his retirement in 1966 when he turned 90.

He passed away at the age of 101 in Hendersonville, NC.

Credit: Excerpts from “William [sic] Shackley At Age 98 Has Led A Full Life,” July 23, 1973, Hendersonville News-Times.

George Vanderbilt and his architect Richard Morris Hunt put careful consideration into each material used to construct Biltmore House. While the underlying walls are brick, the architect chose to add a striking warm stone façade of the house: a layer of limestone from the Hallowell Quarry in Indiana, the country’s richest quarry at the time and the same source for the stone used in Chicago’s 1885 City Hall.

Between February 1891 and February 1892, 287 train cars left Indiana carrying the limestone that would become Biltmore’s façade. Once it came into the depot in Biltmore Village, the stone was transported to the construction site by a narrow-gauge railroad track built specifically for that purpose. The first shipment arrived at the house on March 16, 1891.

Limestone blocks were stored in sheds and protected from the weather until they were ready to be cut and carved. To achieve the texture seen on the house today, the blocks were tooled by hand through a  process called crandalling. Skilled stonecutters cut shallow grooves into the surface of the stone, resulting in a fine, pebble-like surface that looks more elegant and reflects light more dramatically than unaltered limestone.

Once ready, the limestone blocks were lifted into place using wooden derricks powered by hand-drive, geared winches. The first block of stone was put in place in the west garden wall on June 8, 1891.

Although there’s no exact final count, estimates indicate that when the construction was complete, around 60,000 cubic feet of limestone adding up to 5,000 tons had been used in the project. The surface as it’s seen today reflects the beautiful effects of aging in the elements for more than 120 years.

Top: Stonemasons’ shed, 1892, with Biltmore House under construction in the background.

Bottom: Workers and a steam engine on the Esplanade, 1892. Indiana limestone was shipped by rail directly to the Biltmore House building site.

Although Biltmore House was equipped with superb stables, the Vanderbilts did not rely solely on horses and carriages for transportation. Although horse-drawn carriages, ships, and trains were popular when George Vanderbilt was born in 1862, engineers and inventors were already experimenting with “horseless carriages” or automobiles.

It wasn’t until the early 1900s that the Vanderbilts and their friends began to experience the convenience and speed of driving. George Vanderbilt was particularly fond of automobiles and collected them over the years.

George (third from left) and Edith Vanderbilt (far left), friends, and chauffeur in Godesberg am Rhein, Germany, 1906.

Road trips

Biltmore archives show that George Vanderbilt became an avid fan of automobiles during a visit to Europe in 1903 when his good friend William (“Willie”) Bradhurst Osgood Field offered George and Edith Vanderbilt the use of his car and driver. Vanderbilt wrote Field:

“I am so in love with this mode of travel that I mean to order an auto like yours when I get back to Paris, with the few improvements that have been made since. It makes travelling a different thing and simply a natural transition instead of an effort.

We have decided to remain over here all winter and hope to do some more automobiling next summer…”

(George Vanderbilt to William B. Osgood Field, William B. Osgood Field Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, New York Public Library, New York, New York.)

In a subsequent letter, Vanderbilt again comments on his affection toward automobiles, saying, “We are still enchanted with auto and indebted to you.” 

North Carolina driver’s license for George W. Vanderbilt from 1913.

His first car

We aren’t certain what kind of vehicle Mr. Vanderbilt purchased in Paris during this time, but photographs suggest the vehicle may have been made by Panhard et Levassor–the most popular maker of automobiles in France in the early 1900s.

As planned, the Vanderbilts remained in Europe for several more months. In 1904, George mentions a “delightful” three-week trip along the Spanish coast (notwithstanding a mechanical problem that delayed them for several days), several 2–3 day trips from their initial home base in Paris, a planned move to London allowing shorter road trips to visit cathedrals, and a six-week excursion throughout England, Scotland, and Wales.

While the Vanderbilts would continue to enjoy “automobiling” in Europe during their frequent trips, they would not purchase an auto in America until January 1907. Why the delay? Perhaps it was because most American roads were typically in poor condition compared to European roads.

But by the mid-1890s, Biltmore’s roads were nationally recognized as being of the quality needed throughout the country. In North Carolina, “Buncombe County…had accomplished more road improvements by 1914 than any other county in North Carolina,” and George Vanderbilt was given much of the credit.

George Vanderbilt’s 1913 Stevens-Duryea Model C-Six, the only automobile remaining in the Biltmore collection.

American automobiles

In 1907, George Vanderbilt ordered a Stoddard-Dayton car delivered to his home in Washington, D.C. In 1911, he purchased a 1912 six-cylinder, six-passenger Model Y Stevens-Duryea for $4,000. Within a year, he traded the 1912 Stevens-Duryea for a 1913 Stevens-Duryea Model C-Six, which arrived in May 1913.

Receipt for purchase of Stevens-Duryea car; sold to George Vanderbilt for $3096.90 in May, 1913.

The Stevens-Duryea C-Six is the only vehicle that George Vanderbilt purchased remaining in the Biltmore collection and is today an extremely rare model, believed to be one of only 10 still in existence. It has been carefully conserved but not restored and is in private storage. Intriguing details of this vehicle include Edith Vanderbilt’s monogram hand-painted on the doors and the old-fashioned kerosene lamps that provided backup for the car’s newfangled electric headlights!

Detail of parts and maintenance for Stevens-Duryea car.

Learn more about the Vanderbilts’ travels at The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition inside The Biltmore Legacy building in Antler Hill Village, which offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of George and Edith Vanderbilt and their daughter Cornelia.