“ great disappointment to me, not receiving it, at the time promised,--and I am afraid a detriment to the sale of the Book,
London now being nearly empty of Book buyers, & I am sorry to inform you that the Plate is so much wore, that the Impressions
which I want will not be quite leidgerble, by the appearance of the Plate there must have been about 1,500 taken off, so that
I may truly say that it has lessened the Value of it to me & the purchasers, for which reason you will probably have no objections
to make me a less charge than you alluded to in a former Letter. I have sent one Copy of the Book & Map, for your Inspection,
& should you wish to have 50 or 100, more in b
ds. they are at your service, without being charg’d to Account, but as I hinted before in a former Letter, I beg not to be misunderstood,--as
I will pay freely what ever you may think just, after you have weighed it in your mind. By the advice of a friend I have put
at the corner “Published as the Act directs” & enter’d the Book at Stationers hall, for no other reason but to prevent any
other spurious Editions, at the same time I hereby acknowledge, that I have no right, or title, in the work, except what I
print at my own expence, I have printed 1,000--& shall print the same number of the Maps, which I suppose will be nearly completed
by the time that I can receive a Letter from you; The Book I believe you will find, very correct & neatly printed, I have
added “Illustrated with a Map &c.” in the Title Page, which was absolutely necessary otherways the Book-sellers would frequently
sell the Book without the Map, the necessity of which, I hope will be a sufficient apology for the liberty I have taken.--I
have taken great pains to procure Smith’s Map of Virginia, but without Success, therefore was absolutely obliged to give up
the Idea, I met with three different Copies of the Work, but without the map; nor does any of our Gentlemen even remember
to have seen a Map to the book.--
"I have Inclosed a copy of your Advertisement, that I shall this week send to every Paper in England & Scotland, to be inserted,
which I believe are between 70 & 80 in N
o. which will cost me, upwards of £30--but I hope the Book will repay me . . .”
The opening paragraph of a letter written to Jefferson by Richard Claiborne, at the time in London, on June 13, 1787, read:
“I went this morning to a Book-binder to purchase the notes of your Excellency on the state of Virginia--but was informed by
the Gentleman, that the Book was not published, as it was waiting for a map which was to be prefixed to it--and I am to call
in the course of a fortnight or 3 weeks . . .”
Stockdale’s edition, the only one printed in England, was published in the following month.
On July 17, in a letter to Stockdale from Paris, Jefferson wrote: “
. . . with respect to my map as I never desired any thing more than to make it pay for engraving, transporting backwards &
forwards, duties etc pay what you think it’s worth. the translater here gives a livre a copy. I had thought a shilling in
England proportioned to this, as books are dearer there. pay therefore 10
d. a piece or whatever sum you please. I thank you for your offer of 100. copies, but I would not desire them. a dozen may
enable me to oblige some friends as they are probably better printed than those done here. desire your corespondent at Edinburgh,
if you please, to deliver two of the dozen copies to m
(
~
r)
Tho
s. Mann Randolph student at the college of Edinburgh, & to seek him out for that purpose. I think 20. or 30. copies might be
sold here. if you have no correspondent, my Bookseller Frouillé, Quai des Augustins, an extreme honest man, will dispose of
them for you.
”
On August 3 Stockdale wrote to inform Jefferson of the pirated American edition: “. . . Just as I was going to ship 400, of your work, for Richmond & Philadelphia, I had the disagreeable intelligence to learn
that your Book was already printed in Philadelphia, & a skeliton of a Map added to it, which, tho’ not equal to mine, I am
inform’d, as it comes much cheaper, it will answer their purpose--
"Aitken of Philadelphia, is unfortunately fail’d-- ”
