On April 26 of the following year, 1787, William Hay wrote to Jefferson from Richmond, Virginia: “Doct ^r. Currie our Mutual Friend, has been so obliging as to give up to me the new Edition of the Encyclopédie Méthodique of Paris, for which I am to furnish him such standard Books in the English Language, to its Value, as he shall approve of, I have therefore to request you to forward to me the remaining Part of that excellent Work, so soon as the Editors complete it.--The very small Portion of Time, which a Man of Business in this Country, can devote to Literary Pursuits, has only enabled me to satisfy my Curiosity, but from what I have read, & from the pleasing Prospect I have of soon being free from the Bustle of active Business, I promise myself much Happiness & Improvement in the perusual [ sic -- Ed. ] of so various & complete a System of the Arts & Sciences. I am also indebted to Doct ^r. Currie for several Valuable Essays on Air, which you was so obliging as to forward to him, I have read that of M. Sigaud de la Fond on fixed Air, & am extreemly pleased with his accurate Experiments & useful Reflections thereon . . .”

Jefferson acknowledged the receipt of this letter on August 4, and announced the dispatch of the livraisons: “ I am now to acknowledge the receipt of your two favors of Apr. 26. and May 3. I have forwarded, by a vessel lately sailed from Havre to New York a box marked WH. containing the livraisons of the Encyclopedie subsequent to those D ^r. Currie has delivered you, to the 22 ^d. inclusive. they are sent to the care of m ( ^~ r) Madison at Congress who will forward the box to you. there is in it also the same livraisons for Col ^o. Monroe. I will continue to forward them once or twice a year as they come out. I have stated in a letter to Doctor Currie the cost & expences of the first 22 livraisons to enable yourself & him to settle. the future shall be charged either to you or him as your agreement shall be. it is really a most valuable work, & almost supplies the place of a library . . . ”

On December 2, 1790, after Jefferson’s return to the United States and his appointment as Secretary of State, William Hay wrote to him from Richmond: “A Difference of Opinion having arisen between Doct ^r. Currie & me respecting the Encyclopédie methodique, we are desirous you should decide it, as you are possessed of our Letters to you concerning it. I alledge on my part, that I am not obliged to take the Work, but on the Terms of the original Subscription, that is to say, at 751 Livres, on these Terms I received of Doct ^r. Currie the Livraisons which you had forwarded to him, & those afterwards sent in by you. I agreed to furnish to Doct ^r. Currie such standard Books in the English Language as he should desire to that Amount, & had they been commissioned then from England, I should certainly have confined myself to 751 ^li. Altho’ I do not consider Doct ^r. Currie in any Respect culpable for the improper Conduct of the Editors, yet I conceive I am under no Obligation to pay him or them one hundred Guineas instead of less than one third of the Sum, or to enter into a Litigation with the Editors to force a Complyance with their original Contract. If from the fault of the Editors Doct ^r. Currie cannot put me in possession of the Work, my Contract with him is disolved [ sic -- Ed. ] & he must look to them for Redress. I cannot afford the price they ask, if they are intitled to it. Doct ^r. Currie if he is obliged to pay, will never feel it. However if you could relieve the Doct ^r. & me, by getting any other person to take the Work, you would greatly oblige us. The half V. I mentioned to you, was missing in the second Part of Tome III of Arts & Trades, perhaps it is not yet published, if it is, it never came to Hand, this half Volume must be procured thro’ your Aid, whoever of us is considered the proprietor . . .”

Jefferson replied from Philadelphia on February 7, 1791: “ I have been obliged by other business to suspend for some time past all private correspondencies. your favor of Dec. 2. is among the first I am able to take up. my friend M ^r. Madison happening to be with me just as I was proceeding to consider the question you propose whether D ^r. Currie stands bound to see that the printer of the Encyclopedie makes good his engagements as to ”