If you only read one:
Wright, John D. Transylvania, Tutor to the West. Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 1980.
available from your local library or for purchase.
Cousins, James. Horace Holley: Transylvania University and the Making of Liberal Education in the Early American Republic, University Press of Kentucky, 2016.
Gobar, Ash, and J H. Hamon. A Lamp in the Forest: Natural Philosophy in Transylvania University, 1799-1859. Lexington, Ky: Transylvania University Press, 1982.
Jennings, Walter Wilson. Transylvania, pioneer university of the West. New York: Pageant Press. 1955.
Peter, Robert, and Johanna Peter. Transylvania University: Its Origin, Rise, Decline, and Fall : Read at the Club Meetings in October and November, 1895. Louisville, Ky: J.P. Morton and Co., printers, 1896.
Peter, Robert, and Johanna Peter. The History of the Medical Department of Transylvania University. Louisville, Ky: J.P. Morton & Company, printers, 1905.
Wright, John D, William W. Kelly, and William T. Young. Transylvania University, Pioneering a Third Century. New York: Newcomen Society in North America, 1981.
Anderson, Annie Stuart. "Transylvania Seminary's First Site and Some Circumstances of Its Beginnings." Register of Kentucky State Historical Society. Vol. 33, No. 105 (October, 1935), pp. 356-367.
Baker, Jonathan Tyler. "No Longer an 'academically inferior, church-controlled southern school': How Transylvania College Found Success After World War II." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 120.1 (2022): 33-63. (request via ILL until 2026)
Baker, Jonathan Tyler. In Memories of a Glorious Past: Transylvania College and the Liberal Arts in American Higher Education,1945-1975. Masters Thesis, University of Kentucky. 2017.
Boewe, Charles. "Who's Buried in Rafinesque's Tomb?." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. 111, No. 2 (Apr. 1987), pp. 213-235.
Bowden, William A. "Celebrating Transylvania's Medical History." Transylvania University Magazine. Fall 2007. p.10-13.
Bowden, William A. "The Jefferson Connection." Transylvania Today. Fall 1997. p. 18-19.
Brown, L A. Early Philosophical Apparatus at Transylvania College. Lexington: Transylvania College Press, 1959.
Catalogue of the Transylvania University Medical Library. Lexington. Ky: Transylvania University Press, 1987.
Christianson, Eric H. "The Conditions for Science in the Academic Department of Transylvania University, 1799-1857." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Vol. 79, No. 4 (Autumn 1981), pp. 305-325.
Cousins, James Paul. "Children of the Western World: The Illusion of Religious Control and the Making of Higher Education in Kentucky, 1780–1818." University of Kentucky, 2010. Dissertation.
Cousins, James Paul. “Character of a University: The Journey of a College President in the Early Republic,” American Educational History Journal, 41 (2014), 21-40.
Cousins, James Paul. “The ‘Free and Easy’ Generation of Kentucky and the War of 1812,” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 111 (Spring 2013), 133-159.
Cousins, James Paul. “The Trustees of Transylvania Seminary and Transylvania University: 1783-1817,” Kentucky Ancestors. (Autumn, 2011), 23-40.
Cousins, James . "Lexington’s “established Order” and the Creation of Transylvania University." Ohio Valley History. 10.4 (2010): 3-24.
Dunn, C. Frank. "John Filson and Transylvania Seminary." The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Vol. 45, No. 153 (OCTOBER, 1947), pp. 323-334.
Eblen, Tom and Mollie Eblen. “Horace Holley and the Struggle for Kentucky’s Mind and Soul” In James C. Klotter and Daniel Rowland, ed. Bluegrass Renaissance: The History and Culture of Central Kentucky, 1792-1852. University Press of Kentucky. 2012.
"Kentucky University Troubles." New York Times. December 7, 1877. Regarding suit over who owns property affiliated with Kentucky University.
Lunger, Irvin E. "Transylvania College: Its history and its future" Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Vol. 56, No. 4 (October 1958), pp. 309-318.
Massie, F M, and B. Eiseman. “History of the Transylvania Medical School: The Heritage of Medical Education in Lexington, Kentucky.” The American surgeon vol. 31 (1965): 298-306.
McMullen, Haynes. "College Libraries in Ante-bellum Kentucky." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Vol. 60, No. 2 (April, 1962), pp. 106-133.
McMurtrie, Douglas C. "Early Kentucky Medical Imprints. With A Bibliography to 1830." Register of Kentucky State Historical Society. Vol. 31, No. 96 (July, 1933), pp. 256-270.
Munoff, Gerald J. "Dr. Robert Peter and the Legacy of Photography in Kentucky." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Vol. 78, No. 3 (Summer 1980) , pp. 208-218.
Norton, Elizabeth Spencer. "Doctor Samuel Brown: A Biographical Sketch." Register of Kentucky State Historical Society. Vol. 39, No. 127 (April, 1941), pp. 189-192.
Oates, Charles Harmon. "Foraging the Transylvania Law Library: A Unique and Valuable Collection." Available at SSRN 1939585 (2001).
The Transylvania Law Library was sold to a dealer in the early 1980s and was bought by Regent University in 1994. Up to the point of its being sold, it was housed in the Transylvania Library in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. Like our medical collection it was heavily used by students in the first half of the 19th century.
Page, Tate C. History of Football at Transylvania College. Lexington, Ky: Transylvania College, 1941.
"Petition of Transylvania Seminary." The William and Mary Quarterly. Vol. 22, No. 4 (Apr., 1914), pp. 263-265.
Ranck, George W. History of Lexington, Kentucky. Its Early Annals and Recent Progress, Including Biographical Sketches and Personal Reminiscences of the Pioneer Settlers, Notices of Prominent Citizens.... Cincinnati: R. Clarke, 1872. pp. 39-63.
Rohrbough, Malcolm J. Trans-appalachian Frontier: People, Societies, and Institutions, 1775-1850. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008.
Smith, Z. F. "A Kentucky Ideal of a Century Ago Transylvania University" Register of Kentucky State Historical Society. Vol. 6, No. 18 (September 1908), pp. 15, 17-21.
Snyder, Christina. Great Crossings : Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Age of Jackson. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2017.
The book centers on the community that developed around Choctaw Academy, the first federally-controlled Indian boarding school in the United States, which operated from 1825 to 1848. Snyder discovered three known students from Choctaw Academy had enrolled at Transylvania and earned their medical or law degrees. She did this by comparing the student rolls. See pages 105-107, 176-178, and 194-196.
Snyder, Christina. Interview with Christina Snyder about Choctaw Academy. Chahta Tosholi Virtual Speaker Series. Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation. May 6, 2020.
We know of three Choctaw Academy students who attended Transylvania and earned their medical or law degrees.
Thelin, John R. "Jewels in the Crown: Civic Pride and Educational Institutions in the Bluegrass, 1792-1852." In James C. Klotter and Daniel Rowland, ed. Bluegrass Renaissance: The History and Culture of Central Kentucky, 1792-1852. University Press of Kentucky. 2012.
Transylvania Treasures. A periodical which contains articles on items in the Special Collections and in the Moosnick Collection. Published between 2008-2017.
Vance, Charles A. "Address of the President: the Transylvania Medical Library." Annals of Surgery. Apr 1946; 123(4): 481–509.
Wright, James R Jr. “Early history of transylvania medical college: The saga of a disputed autopsy precipitating a duel and grave robbing.” Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.) vol. 32,4 (2019): 489-500.
Zerfas, L. G. "Medical Education in Indiana: As Influenced by Early Indiana Graduates in Medicine from Transylvania University." Indiana Magazine of History. Vol. 30, No. 2 (June, 1934), pp. 139-148.
Hening, William W. The Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619. : Published Pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly of Virginia, Passed on the Fifth Day of February One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eight. : Volume I[-Xiii]. New-York: Printed for the editor, by R. & W. & G. Bartow, 1819.
1780 Charter - In which we are formed -- Hening: Vol X, pp 287-88.
1783 amendment to the Charter - In which our name is first officially mentioned -- Hening: Vol XI, pp 282-87
1798 Act to merge Transylvania Seminary and Kentucky Academy. Littell, William. The Statute Law of Kentucky: With Notes, Praelections, and Observations on the Public Acts. : in Three Volumes. Frankfort, (Ken.: Printed for William Hunter, by Johnston & Pleasants, 1810. Vol 2. p. 234.
1856 Act to reorganize Transylvania University and establish a school for teachers -- Kentucky. Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Passed. 1856 vol 1. Frankfort, KY. pp. 117-123.
1865 Act to Consolidate Kentucky University and Transylvania University - Kentucky. Acts Passed At the ... Session of the General Assembly for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Lexington: J. Bradford, printer to the Commonwealth, 1792. pp. 67-68.
Hamilton Female College Collection documents held at Lex Pub Lib.
Jefferson, Thomas. "Letter to Joseph C. Cabell. January, 20, 1820." The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition. Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. New York, London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons : The Knickerbocker Press, 1905. Vol. 12. pages 154-155. Includes reference to Transylvania.
Jefferson, Thomas."Thoughts on Lotteries." Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. New York, London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons : The Knickerbocker Press, 1905.. Vol. 12. p 438-450.
Jefferson, Thomas. "Letter to John Adams, May 17, 1818." The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. New York, London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons : The Knickerbocker Press, 1905. Vol. 12. 9/29/2017. Reference to President Holley visiting Monticello.
Over the years the records of the Kentucky State Legislature makes mention of Transylvania.
Shane Collection, Presbyterian Historical Society. Documents dated 1716-1860. Covers documents on the early history of Transylvania Seminary, James Blythe and Kentucky Academy (Pisgah), among other things.
Dorn, Charles. For the Common Good : A New History of Higher Education in America. American Institutions and Society. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2017.
Mattingly, Paul H. American Academic Cultures : A History of Higher Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Thelin, John R. A History of American Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.
Wechsler, Harold S, and Steven J Diner. Unwelcome Guests: A History of Access to American Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021.