1Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 31 October 1809 (Jefferson Papers)
The bearer hereof, T. Jefferson Randolph , my grandson, proceeds to Richmond with a view to enter as a student in the academy at that place under your care. having been taught Latin & French (the former however not as perfectly as should be) he passed a year at Philadelphia , attending courses of lectures in Botany, Natural history, Anatomy & Surgery. our object in sending him to your academy...
2Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 31 March 1813 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Gerardin Girardin & is sorry he cannot furnish him the Early York cabbage seed. he has ceased to cultivate it because the seed cannot be raised in this country. he sends him some green curled Savoy cabbage, the only kind he has. he sends him also some Malta Kale which he recieved from that island and finds preferable to t either the Scotch or...
3Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 9 January 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to M. Girardin and his regrets that his garden is so bare of kitchen herbs as to have but a single plant of sage, & that stripped of it’s leaves: he has no translation of Quinctilian. Bonne’s Atlas is sent by the bearer. P.S. T. Jefferson Randolph is in Richmond , but expected home daily. RC ( PPAmP : Thomas Jefferson Papers); dateline above postscript;...
4Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 18 March 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
According to your request of the other day, I send you my formula and explanation of L d Napier’s theorem for the solution of right angled Spherical triangles. with you I think it strange that the French mathematicians have not used, or noticed, this method more than they have done. Montucla , in his account of Lord Napier’s inventions, expresses a like surprise at this fact, and does justice...
5Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 1 May 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson returns his thanks to M r Girardin for the Sabots, which will be of real value to him. he sends him all the Tomata seed he has. he had rode out when mr Girardin ’s note came, or it should have been then sent. it should be planted immediately. RC ( PPAmP : Thomas Jefferson Papers); dateline at foot of text; addressed: “M r Girardin.” Not recorded in SJL . mr girardin’s note is not...
6Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 2 July 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
Before I went to Bedford I asked the favor of you to let me know the amount of my debt to you for the books you were so kind as to let me have, which was referred however until my return. on my return I found you had left the neighborhood; but the hope that some remnant of business might give us the pleasure of seeing you soon, occasioned me to wait a while. but finding that gratification...
7Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 7 July 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
I send you by the bearer the parallel ruler you desired and return the catalogue you were so kind as to leave with me. I find on it the following books which I shall be glad to purchase whenever you decide on the disposing of your library. to wit. Tertullianus 1.v. 16 o Charron . Virey . Thornton’s family Herbal. Modern Gr. & Ital. dictionary. Conciones ex Histor. Lat. excerptae & Clarke’s...
8Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 28 August 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
I send you the 1 st vol. of Tucker ’s Blackstone & the 1 st & 2 d of Botta . I think I have nothing on the fi Revolutionary finances which answers your view except the Article ‘Etats Unis’ of the Encyclopedie, which article I have seperately
9Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 3 December 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson returns his thanks to mr Gerardin Girardin for the two plants of Cape Jessamine which are very acceptable, and will hold himself accountable for the price. he returns the copy of Tacitus having precisely the same edition in his petit-format library in Bedford , and if mr Girardin thinks it can go safely by post to mr Anderson , he will cover it by his frank. he has the identical...
10Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 13 December 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson must apologise to mr Girardin for not sending an answer to his note of the day before yesterday , which was occasioned by his servant’s departure while he was writing it. he now sends him Jones ’s MS. and Mellish ’s travells. the copy of the British spy which he possesses belongs to his petit format library in Bedford , where it now is. he will with pleas has made a few...
11Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 21 December 1814 (Jefferson Papers)
I thank you for the gazettes, review, & Coote s’s history , all of which I have read, except the last, which I have sufficiently examined to see that it is valuable as a repertory only, without any particular merit. on your mention of Mellish ’s opinion of the tenets which distinguish the two political parties of this country, I recollected I had written him a letter on the subject of that...
12Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 15 January 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I have no document respecting Clarke ’s expedition except the letters of which you are in possession, one of which I believe gives some account of it; nor do I possess Imlay ’s history of Kentucky . Of mr Wythe ’s early history I scarcely know any thing, except that he was self-taught; & perhaps this might not have been as to the Latin language. D r Small was his bosom friend, and to me as a...
13Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 20 January 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I return your cahier, without with about half a dozen unimportant alterations only. three or four of these are foreignisms (if I may coin a word where the language gives none) indeed I have wondered that you could have so perfectly have possessed yourself of the idiom and spirit of the English language, as not to write it correctly merely, but so often elegantly. permit me to suggest a single...
14Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 4 March 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I will with pleasure examine the Cahiers you have sent me. I send you Ramsay ’s revoln, La Motte , 1 st Toulongeon and the last Nat l Intelligencer , and am sorry that the use of these and all other resources for you
15Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 12 March 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I return the three Cahiers, which I have perused with the usual satisfaction. you will find a few pencilled notes, merely verbal. But in one place I have taken a greater liberty than I ever took before, or ever indeed had occasion to take. it is in the case of Josiah Philips , which I find strangely represented by judge Tucker and mr Edmund Randolph , and very negligently vindicated by mr...
16Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 18 March 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
Your messenger finds me to the elbows in the dust of my book-shelves. I recieved my Catalalogue Catalogue , last night , and have begun the revisal of the shelves to-day. from this small specimen it seems as if it would take me three weeks very laborious work.— I send you 2 d Toulongeon , and return your Cahier, with approbation of every thing except as to the detention of the Convention...
17Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 27 March 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I return your 14 th Chapter with only 2. or 3. unimportant alterations as usual, and with a note suggested , of doubtful admissibility. I believe it would be acceptable to the reader of every nation except England , and I do not suppose that, even without it, your book will be a popular one there. however you will decide for yourself. As to what is to be said of myself, I of course am not the...
18Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 14 April 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
Your servant finds us just setting down to table, so I on can only scribble you a line. I will have one for mrs Lewis ready for you when you call; this being on your road to her house , I will then shew you also an honorable acknolegement of G. Nicholas on the subject of the enquiries into the conduct of the executive the letter as to Arnold was addressed to Gen l
19Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 22 April 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I return you the 15 th 16 th and 17 th chapters which I have kept too long; but since mr Millegan ’s arrival I have scarcely had a moment at command. I have made a few verbal alterations only as usual, except in the 15 th where I suggest an alteration giving a more precise explanation of the transaction it relates to than your text had done. but I observe an omission of one of the most...
20Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 12 May 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
The unfortunate error into which I led you in conversation by a lapse of my memory, having interwoven itself into your narrative , I found it necessary to remodel that, in order to present a distinct view of the movements of the enemy, & my own, day by day as they occurred during Arnold ’s excursion to Richmond . this is accordingly done now with an accuracy which you may rely on. this...
21Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 21 October 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 7 th has been recieved, and I now send you the letter of mr Page which you requested, and will subjoin to this letter the comparative view of some of Longman’s prices with what Congress paid me for the same books. Longman’s book itself shall go by the same mail— I thank you for your attention to the Microscope. it was well repaired and safely recieved. to your Weekly...
22Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 25 December 1815 (Jefferson Papers)
I have thought it safest to put my answer to mr David under your cover. I have formerly been eager to introduce the culture of the vine and sunk a good deal of money in the endeavor. altho’ unsuccesful, I would still persevere were I younger. but I would do it on a small scale. I would engage a laboring vigneron from France , skilled in the culture of the vine & manipulation of the wine. by...
23Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 23 July 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
I think I once saw in your hands a copy of the approbatory resolution of our assembly, past after the enquiry instituted by mr Nicholas , in the session of 1781.1782. you will oblige me much by a copy of it by return of mail, as I have immediate occasion to quote it. have you not a letter of mr Page ’s on the skirmish at Norfolk , which I think I loosened from it’s place & sent you? I do not...
24Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 31 July 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 27 th is recieved, covering the resolution I had asked , which I now return with thanks for the use of it. I learn with pleasure that we are not to lose the benefit of your labors on our history, which I had begun to fear from it’s delay. Your letter gives me the first information of the state of your health, and I am sensible of the power of the paternal motives which induce...
25Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 30 April 1817 (Jefferson Papers)
M. De Laage did me the favor to call on me with your’s of Mar. 2. I was happy to recieve him, and, as a commencement of intercourse I requested him to dine with us; but he was on his departure on a journey to Buckingham , and soon after his return, I sat out for Bedford from whence I am but just now returned. I shall soon now I hope find occasion to shew my respect to for M. De Laage and for...
26Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 17 June 1817 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favors of May 30. and June 5. are recieved with the article respecting J. Q. Adams which I am glad to possess. of the works you think of translating, Botta would sell best; next to this Dumeril . Bezout altho of very high value would probably find purchasers only in the higher schools, and would be slow in extending even to them. but it is very desirable it should be introduced there....
27Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 26 December 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 13 th never came to hand till yesterday evening, and as mr Hall presses you in time I lose none in forwarding you the 1 st vol. of Botta. if you should conclude to translate it, the other volumes shall be sent successively as they shall be wanting. Botta gives a list of the authorities he consulted: but in fact has chiefly followed Marshal & often merely translated him in...
28Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 8 March 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Girardin and informs him that he has with great pleasure written the letter to mr Chaudron which was desired, and has sent it to himself by mail directly, and he salutes mr Girardi n with friendship and respect. RC ( PPAmP : Thomas Jefferson Papers); on a small slip of paper; dateline at foot of text. PoC ( MHi ); on verso of reused address cover of...
29Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 16 March 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved last night your favor of the 11 th and now forward you the Volume of Botta in which are the speeches made in C supposed to have been made in Congress on the question of independance, but which never were made there. the selection of these as specimens of the work for the public, is a most unlucky one, giving fiction as a specimen of fact. it is exactly the part of the work which has...
30Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 31 March 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
I have a grandson, Francis Eppes whom I should be very glad to have put under your tuition the present year, and I have written to his father, mr John W. Eppes to request his assent to it. in the mean time it is necessary for me to be able to assure him that you can recieve him, & also to state to him the conditions terms of your school . a cousin of his goes also with him, as they are...
31Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 10 May 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
When it was determined in March last that the whole of the funds of the University , which could be commanded during the present year, should be applied to the preparation of accomodations for the reception of professors and students, the friends of the institution thought it very important that a classical school , in the mean time, should be established at Charlottesville , for the...
32Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 22 June 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of June 6. came safely to hand with the volume containing the Discourse of Deschamps Descamps on the utilities of drawing which I have read with great pleasure, and now return. I found in the same vol. one or two other pieces of real merit: particularly the letter of Guingené to the frothy declaimer Chateaubriand , which is one of the finest pieces of irony and of polite persifflage...
33Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 22 September 1819 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved, on my return from Bedford your favor of the 5 th on the subject of a bookstore proposed by a friend of yours to be established at Charlottesville . I have been applied to by several booksellers, and have declined giving an opinion on the subject to any, because it would be matter of regret to have contributed to encorage an experiment, were it to prove unsuccesful. my own intention...
34Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 8 July 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
I am uncertain whether you know that you have been anticipated in the translation of Botta . the first information I had of it was the reciept of the 1 st vol. three days ago from the translater mr Geo. A. Otis . it is to be in 3. v. 8 vo and the 2 d & 3 d are promised as fast as they can be printed. should you consider this as a release from that labor, I should hope you would give the time...
35Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 26 August 1820 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 16 th with the 2. vols of Botta are safely recieved, and I am much pleased to learn that you still contemplate the completion of your history of Virginia . the sale of the 1 st vol. was undoubtedly damped by the wretched style of paper and print in which it was published: and I cannot but believe that, with more attention to this, the entire work compleated would ultimately...
36Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 8 April 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 1 st is recieved and I am happy to learn that you are settled so much to your satisfaction, and I hope that your institution will feel the good effects of your superintendance. I know of no collection of papers relative to our University in 8 vo as you describe. some years ago there was a small pamphlet of some early projects on that subject. a few of these only were...
37Enclosure: Thomas Jefferson’s Catalogue of the Best Classical Editions, [ca. 8 April 1821] (Jefferson Papers)
Herodotus . Gr. Lat. Schweighauseri . 6. v. 8 vo Argentorati et Parisiis 1816. Thucydides Wasse et Dukeri . 6. v. 8 vo Biponti 1788.
38Thomas Jefferson to Louis H. Girardin, 17 August 1821 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of Aug. 12. is duly recieved, covering the letter of mr Reynolds and some printed sheets containing solutions of Mathematical questions by him. these last I re-inclose presuming he would wish to keep possession of them. on the subject of Professors we are unable to say a word. the University has contracted a great debt, by permission of the legislature , for the repayment of which...
39From Thomas Jefferson to Louis Hue Girardin, 19 December 1823 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 6 th came but lately to hand. I cheerfully comply with the request it conveyed of writing to the President on the subject of the Librarian’s office. I accordingly inclose a letter to him, stating truths to which I bear witness ever with pleasure; & I shall be the happier if the position should befriend the publication of the rest of your history. Our University is going on...
40From Thomas Jefferson to Louis Hue Girardin, 9 November 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of Oct. 27. came to hand while G l La Fayette is with us. I took an early occn to inform him of your wish to write memoirs of him , and my opn that he would be satisfied with what you would do. he expressed a disposn entirely favble but did not give any positive answer, he will be at Baltimore in the course of this month when you will have an oppty of conversing with him, or if not...