Contemporary sheep. Lacks sigs. A-F, sig. Z ₄ (torn away), Bb ², and the maps. Initialled by Jefferson at sigs. I and T; on page 54 the reading Westward is corrected by him in ink to eastward. There is no room in the binding for the missing leaves, and the volume must have been bound in this condition. On the first page, written in ink, are the names Miss Mary Jefferson, Mrs. Lesebeth Merewether, Mary Merewether, Molly Walker. With the Library of Congress 1815 bookplate.

Jefferson purchased what appears to have been a perfect copy from Lackington, price 4/6, in 1791, ordered through A. Donald in a letter written on November 23, and the book was included in a bill sent on December 31 (paid by Donald on Jan. 2, 1792).

Lackington’s entry on the bill includes only the catalogue no. 859, the key-word Keith, and the price, 4/6. Jefferson has amplified the entry by adding after the word Keith: ’s Hist. of y ^e Brit. plantñs in Virgã. with maps. neat. gilt scarce. 4 ^to.

The book is entered twice in Jefferson’s manuscript catalogue, the second entry being fuller than the first: Keith’s hist. of the British plantations in America. Part. 1 ^st. Virginia. 4 ^to.

In his list of the histories of the colony in the Notes on Virginia Jefferson wrote of this one: S ^r. William Keith has taken it up at it’s earliest period, & continued it to the year 1725. he is agreeable enough in style, & passes over events of little importance. of course he is short, & would be preferred by a foreigner. ”

Jefferson mentioned it also in his letter to John Adams, December 28, 1812, on Thomas and Nathaniel Morton [q.v. no. 453]. “ Beverley & Keith . . . are merely superficial, giving nothing but those general facts which every one knew as well as themselves . . . ”

Sir William Keith, 1680-1749, Governor of Pennsylvania and Delaware, lived in Virginia during the period of his surveyor generalship of the customs of the southern district of North America. This was the only one published of a planned series of colonial histories, and relies chiefly on Beverley for its source. It was one of several books printed for the Society for the Encouragment of Learning by Samuel Richardson, 1689-1761, English printer and novelist, author of Pamela , Clarissa , and other novels.

Contemporary sheep, rebacked. Initialled by Jefferson at sigs. I and T, corrections and marginal notes by him in ink. Some leaves badly foxed. With the Library of Congress 1822 bookplate.

In compiling this work Stith made use of a manuscript copy of the Records of the Virginia Company which later came into Jefferson’s possession, was sold at the auction of his books in 1829 (lot 121), and was at that time bought by the Library of Congress. Jefferson’s entry in his later manuscript catalogue (copied in the sale catalogue) reads: Records of the Virginia company. 2. v. fol. MS. [ the authentic copy ment ^d. in Stith’s history ].

In a letter to Hugh P. Taylor, written on October 4, 1823, Jefferson lists the manuscripts in his possession including the Records of the Council of Virginia from 1622 to 1700. “ the account of the two first volumes you will see in the preface to Stith’s history of Virginia”, and gives an account of the provenance of the manuscripts and how they came into his possession.