“ pose of obtaining an intimate knowledge of the structure and affinities of any language, how seldom it can be expected to gather information about the grammatical points, the terminations of nouns and of persons and tenses of the verbs; from such persons as may have an opportunity of collecting words, such as Mr. Volney has given about the language of the Miamis, and that such specimens, as I desire to obtain, are the principal means of obtaining that knowledge what it is my wish to have . . .”

For other works by Volney in this Catalogue, see the Index.

Jefferson purchased a copy from Reibelt of Baltimore, ordered in a letter dated from Washington January 23, 1805, paid for, price 72 cents, with a bill dated March 7. The title appears on several of the book lists made by Jefferson at this time, of books purchased from Reibelt. The copy was bound for Jefferson in calf, gilt, by John March of Georgetown, cost 75 cents, the bill dated the same day, March 7, 1805.

This work, written for the benefit of families who have gone to America, or who intend to go, and who manquent des directions nécessaires, contains a number of references to Jefferson and to his Notes on the State of Virginia .

On page 57 is quoted from the Notes Jefferson’s answer to the Abbé Raynal’s remarks on America’s lack of poets, mathematicians and other scientists, from the edition of his Histoire Philosophique , Maestricht, 1774, Vol. VI, page 92. At the end of the quotation from Jefferson’s Notes the author added: Monsieur Jefferson auroit pu se citer lui-même comme un grand philosophe, et un excellent historien. Sa modestie l’a êmpeché de la faire . . .

On pages 77-80 the author discusses the population of America with a quotation from the Notes: En Amérique on agite souvent la question suivante: Cette augmentation rapide de population, est-elle avantageuse ou non à la République? La plûpart des politiques sont pour l’affirmative; l’illustre historien de Virginia Monsieur Thomas Jefferson est d’une opinion différente. Voici comme il raisonne à ce sujet . . . The quotation from the Notes follows, beginning with the table of the number of the inhabitants of Virginia.

At the end the author wrote: Voilà quelques-unes des idées de Mr. Jefferson, et elles me paroissent fondées. Ceux qui voudront les lire plus en détail et les méditer peuvent consulter son excellent ouvrage intitulé: History of Virginia, by Thomas Jefferson Esq. to which is prefixed a large whole scheet map of Virginia . . .

Pages 111 to 114 contain an account of the murder of the Logan family allegedly by Colonel Cresap, apparently taken from the Notes on the State of Virginia, but without any acknowledgment of the source of the story. Logan’s speech, written for delivery to Lord Dunmore, is quoted in full, ending: “Qu’y a-t-il sur cette terre à regretter pour Logan? RIEN DU TOUT.”

On page 132 is an account of the Mammoth, and a reference to Jefferson’s opinions: Les naturalistes européens ont prétendu, que ces os prodigieux appartenoient a des éléphans, ou à des hippopotames; mais Mr. Jefferson a prouvé jusqu’à l’évidence, que cela n’étoit pas, et qu’ils appartenoient à une espece particuliere de carnivore, dont le volume cubique étoit 4 ou 5 fois plus considérable, que celuis de l’éléphant . . .

Jean Louis Bridel, 1759-1821, Swiss educator, clergyman and man of letters, is not know to have visited