Hello Uncle Bud,
Thank you for posting this. I have a little story to share with you about this publication. In 1995 when it was written by Dr. Wolfe, I was a student at Middle Tennessee State University where he taught English. I took one of his classes, and during this class I wrote a paper about the history of the banjo. (Earned an A on it!) I was also friends with Charles Nored who was president of the Rutherford County Historical Society at that time. I was there the day when Mr. Nored first received the boxes of this biography from the publisher, and he was kind enough to sell me the very first one. They were not numbered, so I asked him to write something inside it to prove that it was indeed the very first copy.
Here is what he wrote:...This is the first copy sold by the RCHS.
Charles L Nored
I also got Dr. Wolfe to sign it
Here is what he wrote...To James, with best wishes to a good student and good banjo player
Charles Wolfe, Feb 18, 1996
The Rutherford County Historical Society sold these for $5.00 each, and perhaps 100 years from now my special "first edition" will be worth as much as twice that amount...ha ha. To me, however, it is precious beyond measure...even if it is full of typos (I think they forgot to edit it first before publishing it)
Sincerely,
James Elliott
A.K.K Mule Head Boy
