Jefferson was one of the original subscribers; the printed Proposals for publishing the work by subscription were sent to him by Wayne on September 17, 1802, and have Jefferson’s manuscript annotation: subscribed 1. copy.

The volumes were issued in boards at $ 3.00 each, and are listed on the bills of John March, Jefferson’s agent, as follows: volume I, October 27, and volume II, November 13, 1804; volume III, May 16, 1805; volume IV, April 26, 1806; volume V, March 30, 1807. The five volumes were then bound by March in calf, gilt, at $1.00 each, the bill for $5.00 being charged on June 30, 1807.

An Atlas of plates, with the subscribers’ names, is not on any of Jefferson’s lists, and was not sold to Congress.

Corrections and marginal annotations in ink by Jefferson occur, of which the more important are as follows:

Vol. II. 1770, page 149; beside a passage dealing with the Massachusetts plan for Colonial committees Jefferson has written this is a mistake with an explanatory marginal note of 8 lines, cut into by the binder.

Vol. II. 1774, page 173; beside the address of Congress to the people of Great Britain, quoted in full, Jefferson has written drawn by m( ^~r ) Jo[hn Jay] (the last portion cut away by the binder).

Vol. II. 1775, page 211; a long footnote quotes from Gordon’s History of the United States , a passage from the Resolution read to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, beside which Jefferson has written drawn by T. Jefferson. The authorship of this resolution--the address of June 10, 15 Geo. III. 1775, read to the House by Mr. Cary--is not given in the archives, nor is it mentioned in the contemporary histories, with the exception of that of Soulés, of which Jefferson read the proofs. See no. 484.

Vol. V. 1783, page 28; in the discussion on the Society of of the Cincinnati, by a written Th: J. in the margin, Jefferson has indicated that he was the member who asked What are the sentiments of Congress on this subject.

Numerous references to Jefferson occur throughout the text in connection with his political activities, including his part in the Declaration of Independence, of which the draft reported by the committee has been generally attributed to Mr. Jefferson, his connection with the affair of la petit Democrat, his relations with the Secretary of the Treasury, etc., and letters from and to him are quoted in full. The author gives a short biography of Jefferson following the notice of his appointment to the head of the department of foreign affairs, since denominated the department of state, and mentions that his notes on Virginia, which were read with applause, were generally considered as an able specimen of his talents for composition, and as evincing the correctness of his political opinions . . .

On May 3, 1802, Jefferson wrote from Washington to Joel Barlow in Paris: “ . . . M ^r. Madison & myself have cut out a piece of work for you, which is to write the history of the US. from the close of the war downwards. we are rich ourselves in materials, and can open all the public archives to you. but your residence here is essential, because a great deal of the knolege of things is not on paper but only within ourselves, for verbal communication. John Marshal is writing the life of Gen ^l. Washington from his papers. it is intended to come out just in time to influence the next presidential election. it is written therefore principally with a view to electioneering purposes. but it will consequently be out in time to aid you with information as well as to point out the perversions of truth necessary to be rectified. think of this, & agree to it . . . ”

Several years later, on October 8, 1809, Jefferson wrote from Monticello to Barlow, now in Washington: “ . . . I intended, ere this, to have sent you the papers I had promised you. but I have taken up Marshal’s 5 ^th. volume & mean to read it carefully, to correct what is wrong in it, and commit to writing such facts and annotations as the reading that work will bring into my recollection and which have not yet been put on paper. in this I shall be much aided by my memorandums & letters, and will send you both the old & the new. but I go on very slowly. in truth during the pleasant season I am always out of doors employed, not passing more time at my writing table than will dispatch my current business. but when the weather becomes cold I shall go out but little. I hope therefore to get through this volume during the ensuing winter; but should you want the papers sooner, they shall be sent at a moment’s warning . . . ”

Jefferson’s “ Notes on the V ^th. vol. of Marshal’s life of Washington ” (so headed) are on three closely written pages now in the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress.

On April 16, 1811, Jefferson wrote from Monticello to Barlow in Georgetown: “ I felicitate you sincerely on your destination to Paris, because I believe it will contribute both to your happiness and the public good. yet it is not unmixed with regret ”