19
Histoire Naturelle de Buffon. & Daubenton.
32 vol.
12
mo.
Paris
1752.
Continuation of do.
12. vols--1
st. & 5
th. des Oiseaux which are wanting.
Buffon. Supplement
12. v.
}
Mineraux
9. v.
}vols
12
mo.
Oiseaux
18. v.
}
1815 Catalogue, pages 45 and 46. nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 2.
Buffon, Supplement, 12v}
Mineraux 9}39 v 12
mo.
Oiseaux 18}
Histoire Naturelle de Buffon et Daubenton, 32 v 12mo, Paris 1752.Buffon, Continuation, 12 v 12mo, wanting the 1st and 5th
Des Oiseaux.
BUFFON,
George Louis Leclerc, comte de.
Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière.--
Supplement.--
Oiseaux [par Buffon et Philibert Guéneau de Montbeillard]--
Mineraux.
Paris: de
l’Imprimerie Royale,
1752-1805.
Together 71 vol. 12mo.
It is not clear from Jefferson’s manuscript catalogue, from his correspondence, nor from the Library of Congress printed catalogues exactly how many volumes of the duodecimo edition
were in his library, nor how many he sold to Congress.
In a letter to Edmund Randolph, written from Paris on September 20, 1785, Jefferson mentioned that he was in his [Randolph’s] debt for
ten volumes of Buffon.
On December 16, 1786, the postscript of a letter from Jefferson to Madison contained information as to the price of Buffon’s
plates: “
The price of Buffon’s plates coloured are
"
Oiseaux. 1008 plates in 42 quires...
630
livres
"
Quadrupedes 27 quires...................
194-8
"
they cannot be bought uncoloured separate from the text.”
On January 14, 1787, in a letter to Monsieur Otto, Jefferson mentions that “
we shall very soon recieve another volume on mineralogy from M. de Buffon.”
An undated letter written by Jefferson to
William Short in 1790, gave a list of his requirements, including: “
Buffon’s works. the 12
mo. edition. containing D’Aubenton’s, parts of the work also, which have been omitted in the latter editions.
”
Short bought the books from
Goldsmith on June 20, 1790, and paid for them on June 29. He sent Jefferson a copy of Goldsmith’s
memoire, which included “
Les oeuvres de Buffon d’hazard relie en veau 70 vols. avec la partie d’Aubenton, coute chez M. Pancoucke 200.00. 3-12 vols.
fait 252 ft.
”
On October 10, 1792, Jefferson wrote from Monticello to “
M. Frouillé libraire à Paris”
: “
. . . having lost the 15
th vol. of Buffon Histoire naturelle, and also the 15
th. vol. of his Oiseaux, be so good as to send me these two volumes. my Histoire naturelle is the edition in 12
mo. of Buffon & Daubenton in 31. vols, and the Oiseaux is also in 12
mo. I have the two first vol
s. in 12
mo. published by M. de Cepede. if any more has been published by him in that format, send it . . .
”
A fragment of a letter written from Monticello on October 1, 1792 reads:
“
Dear Sir,
"
Upon examining the set of Buffon which you gave me in consequence of your kind offer to endeavor to procure in Paris the deficient
volumes I find that the 15. des Oiseaux & the same of the Histoire.
”
Jefferson became acquainted with Buffon when he was in Paris. On January 25, 1786, in a letter to A. Stuart,
