Entered by Jefferson without price in his undated manuscript catalogue. A copy of an edition in 6 vol. 8vo. broché, price 15.0. was on Jefferson’s bill from Froullé in Paris, purchased on August 20, 1787. The reference may possibly be to this edition, broché in six parts; no edition in 6 volumes was published.

This edition is the first to have the name of the author on the title-page, and is considerably enlarged, the whole of the third volume containing new material.

Boucher de la Richarderie describes it as the 3e édition, and states that it is the “seule qu’il faut s’attacher: il y en a eu deux autres plus ou moins incomplêtes. La premèire [ sic -- Ed. ] n’est qu’en un seul volume, la seconde n’en a que deux . . .” Only one earlier edition is known, that printed in 1784 described above.

The additional matter which forms the third volume includes (page 381): Extrait d’une Lettre adresée à MM. les Prévôt des Marchands & Echevins de la Ville de Paris, par son Excellence M. Jefferson, Ministre Plénipotentiaire [ sic -- Ed. ] des Etats-Unis, dated Le 27 Septembre 1786; a footnote on page 403 reads: Lisez avec attention les notes sur la Virginie de M. Jefferson (pour me servir du titre modeste qu’il a donné à cet ouvrage intéressant), vous aurez alors l’idée la plus précise de l’importance de cette communication future: il a été Membre du premier Congrès qui traça, déclara & accomplit la révolution; Gouverneur de l’État de Virginie, dans lequel il est né, & aujourd’hui Ministre Plénipotentiaire des États-Unis à la Cour de France.--Il est auteur de l’histoire dont je viens de vous parler: sa qualité d’excellent Citoyen & d’homme d’Etat, ainsi que l’étendue & la variété de ses connoissances, le rendent également utile à sa Patrie, & recommandable aux autres Nations.

The forthcoming publication of this third volume had been mentioned by Jefferson in a letter to Louis Guillaume Otto, in New York, dated from Paris, January 14, 1787: “ . . . we shall very soon receive another volume of mineralogy from M. de Buffon; & a 3 ^d. vol. of the Cultivateur Americain is in the press . . . ”

Entered by Jefferson in his undated manuscript catalogue, with the price, 3.0.

The Marquis de Chastellux visited America in 1782, and travelled in Virginia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. He kept a journal of his wanderings, of which a part was privately printed in an edition of twenty-four copies on board the squadron of Count d’Estaing at Newport, Rhode Island, without date, but probably in 1782. Detached portions of his journals were sent by the Marquis to a periodical printed at Gotha, and were collected and printed without authorization by a printer at Cassel. This pirated publication led to the printing of this first authorised edition, printed by Prault, who has explained the circumstances in his Avertissement de l’Imprimeur at the beginning of the first volume.

Jefferson had seen a copy of this [ sic -- Ed. ] privately printed edition in 1784, and had made copies for himself of extracts from it. In the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society there are four closely written pages, in Jefferson’s hand, headed Extract from Chastellux’s Travels, containing three passages, the first from page 91 of the Voyage de Newport à Philadelphie, Albany &c, the others from pages 76 and 109 respectively.

A letter to Jefferson from Chastellux dated December 27 [1784] is concerned in part with this privately printed edition, and then continues: “. . . Lorsque j’aurai l’honneur de vous voir, je vous parlerai d’un Voyage de Virginie, qui n’a pas eté imprime et que l’ai preté seulement a quelques personnes. J’avoue que j’ai craint que celui cy ne vous deplût davantage, et cela pour deux raisons: l’une que je me suis livré au plaisir de faire votre éloge, l’autre que je me suis permis quelques observations peu favorables aux virginiens, dont le caractere et le patriotisme ne ”