William Dandridge (ca. 1782–1830), was the son of Bartholomew Dandridge (1737–85) and a nephew of George Washington, whom he visited at Mount Vernon in December 1797 and worked for briefly as an amanuensis the following year. He later served as cashier of the Bank of Virginia in Richmond, 1812–30. Shortly after he resigned his position due to ill health, Dandridge passed away at the New Kent County home of his sister Martha Washington Dandridge Halyburton (DVB description begins John T. Kneebone, Sara B. Bearss, and others, eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography, 1998– , 3 vols. description ends , 3:674–5; WMQ description begins William and Mary Quarterly, 1892–  description ends , 1st ser., 5 [1896]: 36; Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds., The Diaries of George Washington [1976–79], 6:274–5; Norfolk Gazette and Publick Ledger, 10 Jan. 1812; DNA: RG 29, CS, Richmond, 1820, 1830; Baltimore Patriot & Mercantile Advertiser, 12 July 1830; Richmond Enquirer, 19 Nov. 1830).

The PoC of this letter is written on the verso of the address cover of a printed circular letter from Mathew Carey to TJ, Philadelphia, 18 Mar. 1818 (addressed in Carey’s hand: “Thomas Jefferson, Esqr Monticello”; franked; postmarked Philadelphia, 19 Mar.). In the circular Carey states that, although his history of Ireland during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I is nearing completion, he still wishes to obtain, either by loan or by purchase, eight specific monographs, which he lists, offering to pay from $3 to $8 per volume based on their size, and adds that “If you have any other historical works, calculated to elucidate that portion of history, I request to be favoured with a list of them” (broadside in DNA: RG 59, MLR; recorded in SJL as a “circular” received 2 Apr. 1818).