“
profit by the further information he expects from it.”
Jefferson’s copy is no longer extant. In the copy collated, a presentation from the author to William Duane, the omitted note
is separately printed and placed at the end as page [63].
Henry Guest, a Quaker of New Brunswick, was in frequent correspondence with Jefferson. According to his address to the printer, on the
verso of the title leaf in this edition, the work was originally printed in 1800.
[1101]
vi. CUTTING,
Nathaniel.
General Observations respecting a new mechanical process for manufacturing cordage for maritime and other uses; the property
of Nat. Cutting, of Boston, in the United States.--Supplement to General Observations respecting a new mechanical process . . . By Nathaniel Cutting of Boston, United States of America.
Without name of place or printer, n.d. [?
1804.]
TS1785 .C98
8vo 2 parts in 1; 16 leaves with sig. A
8, 1
8, separate pagination, caption titles.
The copy collated is dated at the end in the autograph of the author,
August 1804. This copy may possibly be the one sent by the author to Jefferson, but has been rebound in half red morocco, and, apart
from the author’s autograph, no signs of provenance remain.
Another edition in the Library of Congress, from the Force collection, collates in fours, with continuous signatures for the
2 parts: A-D
4, but separate pagination. This copy has printed at the end, the date May, 1805, and at the end of Part I, Paris, Aug. 18,
1803.
Jefferson’s copy was sent to him by the author from Charleston, S.C., on January 26, 1806, shortly after his return from Paris
to the United States: “. . . After so long an absence from my Country as twelve years and an half, I should be ashamed to return without bringing
home with me some improvement in art or science which might prove advantageous to my Fellow Citizens. In this view, as well
as with the hope of some private emolument, I have expended much time and money to bring to perfection a new mode of manufacturing
Cordage, whereby a great proportion of the manual labour & other expences usually employed, is economized and that important
article of Commerce & Navigation is rendered much more perfect than heretofore.
"Mr. Waddell being about to set out for the Federal City, is so kind as to take charge of this Letter & some Copies of a printed
sketch which exhibits some of the most prominent advantages which would result from the employment of my
Hobby-horse in lieu of the
Old Hack that has been in service from the days of our Grandfathers . . .”
This letter also requested permission to import his machines etc. duty free.
In his reply, dated from Washington, February 18, 1806, Jefferson dealt with the matter of the imports but made no mention
of the pamphlet. The letter closed: “
To my congratulations on your return to the United States, permit me to add my sincere wishes for your success in the enterprize
you propose to engage in . . .
”
On July 8, 1806, in a letter to Robert Smith, Secretary of the Navy, Jefferson wrote: “
It is really wonderful how compleatly our countrymen, after staying some time in Europe, forget the constitution, the laws,
& the spirit of their own country. m
(
~
r)
Cutting’s propositions are evidences of this fact. I would wish however to put them by with a civil answer . . .”
[1102]
vii. MONTGOLFIER,
Joseph Michel.
De l’Utilité du Belier Hydraulique. Par Joseph Montgolfier, Démonstrateur au Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, demeurant à Paris, rue des Juifs, No. 18, au Marais. A
Paris: de l’Imprimerie de
Gillé fils, An
XIII (1805).
TJ905 .M6
8vo. 10 leaves, folded engraved plate by N. L. Rousseau [plate XVII] in the Bulletin de la Société d’Encouragment No. XIX].
Joseph Michel Montgolfier, 1740-1810, French inventor.
[1103]
