“ flatte que vous y trouverez l’expression de ces sentimens d’independance que j’ai professés toute ma vie et que je regarde comme un patrimoine qu’on ne puisse pas m’enlever . . .”

This was acknowledged by Jefferson on April 14, 1811: “ The interruption of our intercourse with France, for some time past has prevented my writing to you. a conveyance now occurs, by m ( ^~ r) Barlow or m( ^~ r) Warden, both of them going in a public capacity. it is the first safe opportunity offered of acknoleging your favor of Sep. 23. and the reciept at different times of the III ^d. part of your valuable work, 2 ^d. 3 ^d. 4 ^th. & 5 ^th. livraisons, and the IV ^th. part, 2 ^d. 3 ^d. & 4 ^th. livraisons, with the Tableaux de la nature, and an interesting map of New Spain. for these magnificent & much esteemed favors accept my sincere thanks. they give us a knolege of that country more accurate than I believe we possess of Europe, the seat of the science of a thousand years . . . ”

On December 20, 1811 (received by Jefferson on July 31, 1813) Von Humboldt sent more parts: “. . . J’ose vous offrir la fin de mon Recueil d’Observations astronomiques et la 6 ^me et 7 ^me livraison de l’Essai sur la Nouvelle Espagne . . .”

Jefferson wrote to Von Humboldt from Monticello on December 6, 1813: “ I have to acknolege your two letters of Dec. 20. & 26. 1811. by m( ^~ r) Correa . . . the livraison of your Astronomical observations and the 6 ^th. and 7 ^th. on the subject of New Spain, with the corresponding Atlases are duly recieved, as had been the preceding cahiers. for these treasures of a learning so interesting to us accept my sincere thanks. I think it most fortunate that your travels in those countries were so timed as to make them known to the world in the moment they were about to become actors on it’s stage . . . ”

Several references to Jefferson occur in Von Humboldt’s work. In the Introduction, in the part headed Ancienne et Nouvelle Californie (page xxxvii in the quarto edition of 1811) is a mention of the Notes on the State of Virginia: “M. Jefferson, dans son ouvrage classique sur la Virginie, a discuté la position du Presidio de S. Fe au Nouveau-Mexique”; at the end of Chapter I in the same volume, in a discussion on the treatment of slaves, occurs the passage: “Enfin, par un acte national, également motivé par la justice et la prudence, la traite des nègres a été abolie: elle l’auroit été long-temps avant, si la loi avoit permis au président des États-Unis (magistrat dont le nom est cher aux vrais amis de l’humanité) de s’opposer à l’introduction des esclaves, et d’épargner par là de grands malheurs aux races futures.”

A footnote explains the identity of the magistrat: M. Thomas Jefferson, auteur de l’excellent Essai sur la Virginie.

On page 317 in this edition, a footnote explains Jefferson’s part in the Lewis and Clark expedition: “Ce voyage admirable du capitaine Lewis a été entrepris sous les auspices de M. Jefferson, qui, par ce service important rendu aux sciences, a ajouté de nouveaux motifs á la reconnoissance que lui doivent les savans de toutes les nations.”

Other references to Jefferson occur.

Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Von Humboldt, 1769-1859, German naturalist and traveller, left Corunna on June 5, 1799 for a five year expedition to Mexico and Spanish South America. On his return in 1804 he visited the United States, and was introduced to Jefferson by Caspar Wistar of Philadelphia.

Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland [Goujand], 1773-1858, French traveller and botanist, accompanied Von Humboldt on his epxedition, [ sic -- Ed. ] and collected and classified upwards of 6000 plants, mostly unknown in Europe.