[Rarebooks] FS: GEORGE WASHINGTON'S SECRETARY's Copy of the First Edition of Thomas Jefferson's NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA

[Charles Agvent]

One of 50 items in our new catalog.  See them all here: 
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JEFFERSON, Thomas. NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA (Copy belonging to 
George Washington's Secretary). London: John Stockdale, 1787. First 
Edition. Contemporary tree calf leather with gilt-decorated spine and a 
gilt-lettered black morocco spine label; [4], 382 pages. With the 
folding table of the Indian tribes and the woodcut of Madison's Cave but 
lacking the folding map, as is often the case. This work had its origins 
in a questionnaire circulated to America's governors in 1781 by Francois 
Barbé-Marbois, a French diplomat stationed in Philadelphia. Jefferson, 
after completing his term as Virginia's governor, responded to these 
questions on 20 December 1781. Realizing that his efforts might interest 
a broader audience, he continued to expand his manuscript over the 
coming years. In 1785, he had a handful of copies printed for private 
distribution, which was followed by a French translation in 1786. The 
present edition, printed in 1787, is the first published edition in 
English and the first (and only) book-length work Jefferson ever 
published. The published Notes remained framed in terms of Jefferson's 
responses to Barbé-Marbois''s 23 questions. Jefferson went much further 
than the questions demanded, however. Asked "The number of its 
inhabitants?", Jefferson responded with a 10-page demographic analysis 
of Virginia. The work contains extended sections on Virginia's economy, 
slavery, Indians, constitution, and laws. It concludes with 3 
appendices: a commentary on the text by Charles Thomson, secretary of 
the Continental Congress; the 1783 draft of Virginia's constitution 
(which Jefferson proudly declared to be a legal code drafted in "the 
plain language of common sense"); and the Virginia Assembly's 1786 act 
establishing religious freedom (entirely drafted by Jefferson, who 
considered it as second in importance of his achievements after the 
Declaration of Independence). Church 1189; Clark I: 262; Howes J-78; 
Sabin 35895; Vail 760. Other than lacking the map, the contents are 
complete with some sporadic foxing but generally clean. The hinges are 
cracked with the covers loose but still attached; about an inch of 
leather is lacking at the base of the spine with some loss of leather on 
the rear cover. Overall about Very Good and a remarkable association copy.

This copy with the ownership SIGNATURE at the top of the first page of 
text of George Washington Craik who served George Washington as his 
secretary during the president's second term. He was the son of Dr. 
James Craik, the first U.S. surgeon general and Washington's personal 
physician who attended him at his death. Dr. Craik named his son after 
the president who educated George Washington Craik. (#016973)        
$15,000.00

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