Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 14 May 1815
To Horatio G. Spafford
Monticello May 14. 15.
Dear Sir
Your favor of April 4. was not recieved till the day before yesterday. I subscribe with pleasure to your American magazine,1 but hope you will have some agent in our state to recieve the annual subscription, nothing being so difficult as remittances to other states for want of some paper of general circulation. with respect to aiding it with materials for publication, I am become so averse to the labors of the writing table as to be always far behind in the most necessary and pressing business. I am glad to learn that your carriage succeeds. our reasoning on new machines is so often baffled by small circumstances which it is difficult to take into account, that I am always unwilling to rest on any thing but actual experience. Accept the assurance of my esteem and respect
Th: Jefferson
RC (NjMoHP: Lloyd W. Smith Collection); addressed: “Mr Horatio G. Spafford Albany”; franked; postmarked Charlottesville, 17 May; with Spafford’s notes on address cover: “Subscription” and “5. 23, ’15.” PoC (MHi); on verso of reused address cover of missing letter from William Short to TJ, 4 Apr. 1815 (see note to TJ to Short, 18 Apr. 1815); endorsed by TJ.
Spafford’s misdated favor is printed above at 4 May 1815.
1. In the RC, Spafford used a “+” symbol in the left margin to key the line ending with this word to a note at foot of text: “entered, 5. 23, ’15.”
Index Entries
- American Magazine; edited by H. G. Spafford search
- American Magazine; TJ subscribes to search
- carriages; H. G. Spafford’s improvement to search
- currency; exchange of search
- inventions; of H. G. Spafford search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Correspondence; fatiguing to search
- Spafford, Horatio Gates; as editor of American Magazine search
- Spafford, Horatio Gates; inventions of search
- Spafford, Horatio Gates; letters to search
- subscriptions, for publications; journals search