“
. . . will you also be so good as to ask of him [i.e. Colonel Smith]
whether he can give me any information of the progress of the map of S. America, which he, at my request, put into the hands
of an engraver . . .
”
One year later, on June 24, 1792, Jefferson wrote to Thomas Pinckney in London: “
Th: Jefferson begs leave to trouble [
. . .]
following commissions. [
. . .]
Faden, map maker in London [
. . .]
S. America from one which Th: J furnished [
. . .]
return the original & half a dozen copies. Col
l. Smith employed him. will m
(
~
r)
Pinckney be so good as to jog him from time to time? . . .” [MS. mutilated.]
In 1805, Jefferson bought a copy of Olmedilla’s map by Faden. It was included in the list of articles which Jefferson asked
the favor of Mr. Tunnicliff to procure for him in London in a letter dated from Washington April 25, 1805.
The map was bought from
W. & S. Jones, and included in their bill to Jefferson dated August 3, 1805: “
Almadilla’s Map of S. America by Faden. £
2.12.6.
”
Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, d. 1790, Spanish cartographer and engraver.
William Faden, 1750-1836, English engraver of maps, and publisher, [punct.
sic.--
Ed.] See the
Notes on the State of Virginia
, no. 4167.
[3857]
Map of the Gulf of Mexico
This map may not have been in Jefferson’s collection. It was ordered by him from the catalogue of
Reibelt of Baltimore on January 20, 1806, to be imported from Bordeaux: “
La Carte du Golfe de Mexique gravé en Espagne in 1 feuille.”
On June 16 Dufour of Amsterdam, apparently referring to the same map wrote: “Il a été empossible de ce procurer la Carte du Golfe du mexique gravée en Espagne.”
[3858]
26
Not in the Manuscript Catalogue.
1815 Catalogue, page 117, no. L, Collection of Plans of Town, gr. fol.
This collection is unfortunately no longer in the Library of Congress.
Jefferson collected plans of cities visited by him. On April 10, 1791, he wrote from Philadelphia to Pierre Charles L’Enfant
at Georgetown: “
I am favored with your letter of the 4
th. inst. & in compliance with your request I have examined my papers and found the plans of Frankfort on the Mayne, Carlsruhe,
Amsterdam, Strasburg, Paris, Orleans, Bordeaux, Lyons, Montpelier, Marseilles, Turin & Milan, which I send in a roll by this
post. they are on large & accurate scales, having been procured by me while in those respective cities myself. as they are
connected with the notes I made in my travels, & often necessary to explain them to myself, I will beg your care of them &
to return them when no longer useful to you, leaving you absolutely free to keep them as long as useful . . .
”
From time to time his collection was added to by his friends and others. On April 8, 1799, Sir John Sinclair wrote to Jefferson
from London: “Sir John Sinclairs best compliments to M
r. Jefferson.--Requests his acceptance of the plan of a new town, which he is now building, in which he has endeavoured to
combine as many advantages as possible more especially those of ornament convenience and health.--Regrets much that he cannot
write M
r. Jefferson more fully at present, being on the eve of setting out for Scotland, but he could not think of leaving London
without sending him some mark of remembrance.”
After the Louisiana purchase Jefferson became interested in plans of New Orelans and the Orleans Territory. The bill of John
March of Georgetown has an entry under date June 6, 1805:
