Thomas Jefferson - Notes on the State of Virginia
Feb 9th, 2007 by Bauman
“Laid the foundations of Jefferson’s high contemporary reputation as a universal scholar and of his present fame as a pioneer American scientist.”
In 1781, exhausted by the burden of governing war-torn Virginia, stung by criticism of his conduct during Benedict Arnold’s and Charles Cornwallis’ invasions, discouraged by the futility of his own efforts, Jefferson resolved to quit government altogether. His retirement was brief - the death of his wife in 1782 spurned him to retur to congress - but during this time he penned the only book he would ever publish during his lifetime: Notes on the State of Virginia.
Written in the form of answers to a French diplomat’s questions about Virginia, the Notes describe the state’s geography and provide an abundance of supporting material and unusual information. He reluctanctly published the book in 1785 in an edition of only 200 copies while in Paris. A poor translation into French followed in 1786, but it included for the first time Neele’s map of Virginia.
The exceptionally rare first English edition was issued by Stockton in 1787 in an edition of 1000 copies with Neele’s map. The first American edition followed in 1788 but did not include a map. This second American edition contains for the first time the famous color-outlined Samuel Lewis folding map of Virginia, and is the first American edition to include a map.
We offer a copy from this second American edition bound together with an 1800 first edition of Jefferson’s controversial Appendix - in which he presentsthe evidence on which he charged Captain Cresap and his party with the murder in 1774 of peaceable Indians - in contemporary American sheep binding.