The dedication to the New England Reader is signed T. Prince, August 16, 1731, and a note at the foot reads: The manuscript, in the handwriting of Capt. Clap, was presented to the Rev. Mr. Prince by Mr. James Blake, jun. of Dorchester.

Roger Clap, 1609-1691, was a native of Devonshire, England, and came to America in 1630. He settled in Boston, and held military and civil offices. These Memoirs, first published in 1731, were written for the benefit of his children. They appeared in several editions, and have been reprinted by the Dorchester Historical Society.

Thomas Prince, 1687-1758, theologian, scholar, and bibliophile of Massachusetts.

Jefferson’s copy was sent to him by the translator from Paris in December 1807.

On December 4, 1807, Warden wrote to Jefferson concerning the dedication: “I have taken the liberty, with the approbation of General Armstrong, of inscribing to you my translation of the chef-d’oeuvre of Thomas,--his Marcus Aurelius. If I have committed an indiscretion in employing your name, without previously begging your permission, I hope for indulgence . . .”

On February 4, 1808, Warden wrote: “. . . In December last, I transmitted to you, by Mr. Sands of New York, Peersons’ Synopsis Plantarum , 2 vol. accompanied with a copy of my translation of the Eulogium of Marcus Aurelius, by Thomas, which I took the liberty of inscribing to you.”

Persoon’s Synopsis Plantarum was sent on December 21, with a letter which does not mention the translation of Marcus Aurelius.

On April 8, 1808, Warden wrote: “I had the honor of sending to you, by Mr. Godon, a copy of my translation of Cuviers’ Eulogium on Priestley; and by the Bearer of the Ministers’ last dispatches, a copy of my translation of the Eulogium of Marcus Aurelius, by Thomas. I hope, Sir, you will pardon the liberty I took in inscribing it to you.”

Warden again mentioned sending these books in a letter dated June 12. The receipt of the pamphlet had been acknowledged by Jefferson, with other books and pamphlets, in a letter dated from Washington on May 1.

The dedication, dated from Paris, 1 December 1807, reads: To Thomas Jefferson, The Marcus Aurelius of the United States, this translation is respectfully inscribed, By his most obedient and very humble servant, D. B. Warden.

Antoine Léonard Thomas, 1732-1785, French scholar. The original edition of this Éloge, in French, was published in 1770. The translator gives the date of his birth as 1735, though according to the biographies he was born in 1732.

David Baillie Warden, 1772-1845, United States Consul at Paris, was described by Jefferson in a letter to James Madison, December 8, 1810: “ a perfectly good humored, inoffensive man, a man of science & I observe a great favorite of those of Paris, and much more a man of business than Armstrong had represented him . . . he is an interesting man, perfectly modest & good, & of a delicate mind . . . ”