To George Washington from Alexander J. Dallas, 26 January 1791

From Alexander J. Dallas

26th January 1791

Sir

Permit me to request the honor of a place in your Library for a volume of “Reports of Cases ruled and adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania.” The work, as far as it depends on my labour, is of little value; but considering it as a useful example in a literary walk, which is almost untrodden in this country, and as a respectable production, in the articles of paper, types, and printing, of American Manufacturers and Artists, I am induced to hope, that you will not think it altogether unworthy of your acceptance. I am, with the highest respect, Sir, Your most obedt and most Hble Servt

A. J. Dallas

ALS, DLC:GW.

This letter accompanied a volume entitled Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania, before and since the Revolution (Philadelphia, 1790). This volume was in GW’s library at the time of his death (Griffin, Boston Athenæum Washington Collection, description begins Appleton P. C. Griffin, comp. A Catalogue of the Washington Collection in the Boston Athenæum. Cambridge, Mass., 1897. description ends 528). It was the first volume in what, by 1807, would become a four-volume set of reports compiled by Dallas. Tobias Lear replied on 26 Jan. 1791, acknowledging receipt of the volume (DLC:GW). Dallas had been appointed secretary of Pennsylvania by Thomas Mifflin on 19 Jan. 1791.

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Source Project: Washington Papers
Title: To George Washington from Alexander J. Dallas, 26 January 1791
Author: Dallas, Alexander J.
Recipient: Washington, George
Date: 26 January 1791

Reference

Cite as: “To George Washington from Alexander J. Dallas, 26 January 1791,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0160. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 7, 1 December 1790 – 21 March 1791, ed. Jack D. Warren, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, p. 288.]