Jefferson, Thomas, as Third President

Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), one half-page (9 3/4  x 8 in.; 246 x 203 mm) on wove paper, Washington, 12 November 1801, to William Barton; a few pinholes and short separations at intersecting folds, some light browning, two small mounting remnants on verso.

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Oberg, 35:609–10; Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson 2134

Autograph letter signed ("Th: Jefferson"), one half-page (9 3/4 x 8 in.; 246 x 203 mm) on wove paper, Washington, 12 November 1801, to William Barton; a few pinholes and short separations at intersecting folds, some light browning, two small mounting remnants on verso.
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President Jefferson accepts the dedication of Barton's Dissertation on the Freedom of Navigation and Maritime Commerce. On 30 October 1801, Barton wrote to Jefferson, enclosing a manuscript copy of the preface to his treatise on maritime law—which he claimed to have written over the summer while confined to his house with gout—and asking the President's indulgence to have the book dedicated to him. Barton's preface argued for the necessity of establishing an explicit code of maritime law to in order to safeguard the welfare of the United States: "As a great commercial, as well as agricultural nation, their interests are involved in the just and secure establishment of those rights, upon which the exercise and protection of their foreign trade depend."

When Jefferson received Barton's request, he had been thinking deeply about maritime law in relation to the Napoleonic Wars, having recently outlined his own position on the matter in a very lengthy letter to Robert Livingston, U.S. Minister to France. Livingston's official instructions from Secretary of State James Madison purposefully did not address the question of "whether free ships shall make free goods," wrote the President, "because we do not mean to take any side in it during the war." But to ensure that Livingston understands—and, if necessary, can accurately represent his view—Jefferson's 9 September 1801 missive concludes: "With the same honest views, the most honest men often form different conclusions. as far, however, as we can judge, the principle of 'free bottoms, free goods,' is that which would carry the wishes of our nation." Understanding that this principle also underpinned Barton's thesis, Jefferson consented to have Dissertation on the Freedom of Navigation and Maritime Commerce dedicated to him:

"I have duly received your favor of Oct. 30. and the honour of your proposition to address to me your treatise on the laws of nations. this proof of respect cannot but be flattering to one who entertains a sincere esteem for your person and character. the subject is important, involved in error & contradictions, which, for the peace of the world, it is very desireable to see rectified. but the want of a physical test whereby to try principles, and the passions & interests & power of the nations who are called to their bar, render that rectification very difficult. still every effort is laudable which goes to that object, and tends to promote it by increasing the mass of authorities which bear witness in it's favor. Accept my best wishes for the success of your work & assurances of my high esteem & respect."

Barton sent an inscribed copy of the book (published by the bookseller John Conrad) to Jefferson on 20 February 1802, which survives in the Library of Congress. The printed dedication reads "To Thomas Jefferson, L.L.D., President of the United States of America; eminently distinguished by his talents and virtues, and rendered still more illustrious by the approving voice of his country; the following dissertation is inscribed with sentiments of the highest respect and the greatest personal consideration."

Jefferson had two other books by Barton, a fellow member of the American Philosophical Society, in his library: Memoirs of the Life of David Rittenhouse (Philadelphia, 1813) and The True Interest of the United States, and Particularly of Pennsylvania, Considered; with Respect to the Advantages Resulting from a State Paper-Money (Philadelphia, 1786); as well as offprints of two articles from the third volume of American Philosophical Society Transactions (1791), "Observations on the Probabilities of the Duration of Human Life, and the Progress of Population, in the United States of America" and "Additional Observations. ..."