Jefferson, Thomas

Extract of a Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Wythe. Monticello, January 16, 1796. [Richmond, Virginia: Augustine Davis, 1796]



Folio (13 1/4 x 8 in.; 336 x 204 mm), 4 pages, docketed on verso "Delegates for Albemarle"; lightly browned, formerly folded, a few small light stains on last page. Maroon half-morocco clamshell box.

Evans 30637; E.G. Swem, Bibliography of Virginia (1917), no. 7871; see Jefferson Papers, vol. 28, p. 583 ff.

lightly browned, formerly folded, a few small light stains on last page
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First edition of one of the rarest of all printed Jefferson documents, one of three recorded copies, Jefferson as book collector & antiquarian.

Jefferson began as a young man to preserve all the existing laws of his native province of Virginia, both printed and manuscript. Prompted by a request from his old law teacher George Wythe (1726-1806), then judge of the Chancery Court in Virginia, he began to put his collection in order.

The letter begins by describing the whole process of organization and preservation. He gives an account of his search: "I set myself therefore to work to collect all which were then existing, in order that when the day should come in which the public should advert to the magnitude of their loss ... a part of their regret might be spared by information that a portion has been saved from the wreck which is worthy of their attention and preservation." The matter of preservation was complex as some of the material was fragile and " ... would not bear removal, being so rotten, that, on turning over a leaf, it sometimes falls into powder. These I preserve by wrapping and sewing them up in oiled cloth, so that neither air nor moisture can have access to them."

He goes on to suggest the best means of preservation: "I think therefore that there should be printed at the public expence, an edition of all the laws ever passed by our legislatures which can now be found; that a copy should be deposited in every public library in America, in the principal public offices within the state, and some perhaps in the most distinguished public libraries of Europe ... as I have already spent more time in making myself acquainted with the contents and arrangement of these MSS. than any other person probably ever will, and their condition does not admit their removal to a distance, I will cheerfully undertake the direction and superintendance of this work."

After the letter there is an inventory of all the laws he possessed, and those "not in my possession, and presumed to be lost" running from 1619 to 1783. At the end is a short notice, signed (in type) by Wythe, John Brown, John Marshall, Bushrod Washington, and John Wickham, acknowledging receipt of Jefferson's letter, and postponing a decision on his suggestion until the whole matter could be considered by the Virginia General Assembly.

The fact that the letter was printed, suggests that it was meant to be distributed to members of the General Assembly, this copy being directed to the delegates of Albemarle County. But only two other copies are known (Library of Congress & University of Michigan Law School); the copies recorded at the University of Virginia are photostats.