Jefferson’s copy was presented to him by the author, who on March 4, 1807, wrote to the former from Charleston, S. Carolina: “I do myself the pleasure of presenting to you, thro’ the medium of Doct ^r Mitchell of New York, the first Volume of Flora Caroliniensis--It is not alone from the regard I have to you as Our beloved Chief Magistrate that induced me to send it; But because you are not only an Advocate for, but a Promoter and encourager of American Arts and Sciences that I am more immediately induced to forward it--Be pleased Sir to accept it, I trust, it may afford you a few moments amusement, in hours not immediately occupied with subjects of greater importance . . .”

Jefferson replied from Washington on March 22: “ Th: Jefferson returns his thanks to m( ^~ r) Shecut for the 1 ^st. volume of his Flora Carolinaeensis which he has been so kind as to send him. as a Botanical institute & dictionary as being in English and containing much new matter, it promises to be among the most useful manuals in that science . . . ”

On June 29, 1813, having been made a member of the Antiquarian Society of Charleston, of which Shecut was the organizer, Jefferson wrote to the latter from Monticello: “ . . . I have been in the constant hope of seeing the 2 ^d. vol. of your excellent botanical work. it’s alphabetical form & popular style, it’s attention to the properties & uses of plants, as well as to their descriptions, are well calculated to encourage and instruct our citizens in botanical enquiries . . . ”

John Linnaeus Edward Whitridge Shecut, 1770-1836, South Carolinian physician, botanist, and author. This was the most extensive work on the botany of South Carolina that had appeared to that time. It is dedicated from Charleston, January 1st, 1806, to Peter Freneau, Esq., as a friend of science and literature. On 4E ₃ is a poem, Lines, occasioned by reading the first number of Doctor Shecut’s Flora Carolinaensis . . . which the author in a note states that he believes to be from the pen of Capt. Philip Freneau. The work was originally issued in parts; at the end is the publisher’s Advertisement requesting those gentlemen who are desirous of having their Numbers bound, to send them to Mr. John Hoff. No more than the first volume was ever published.