To Thomas Jefferson from Philippe Reibelt, 17 February 1805
From Philippe Reibelt
Baltimore le 17 fevr. 1805.
Monsieur le President!
Je ne puis—des Ouvrages, que Vous ordonnez par votre Lettre du 15—recue hier Soir—Savoir:
| A) | Miltons, paradise lost—⅌. Barrois. | ||
| Gibbons—decline of the Rom. Empir—edit. de Basle. | |||
| Lucrece |  |
de Lagrange | |
| Seneque | |||
| B) | Oeuvres | de Moliére— | |
in 18 format. |
|
|
de Racine | |||
|
|
de Corneille | |||
| Anacharsis de Barthelemy. | ||||
Vous fournir pour çe Moment, que les 4 derniers Sub Lit. B. Ayant de çeux Sub Lit. A—des deux premiers, vendu tous les Exemplaires, que j’avois—et n’ayant les 2 derniers point encore recus—Mais j’en attend, et je ne perdrais pas un instant, de Vous faire parvenir çes 4 Livres.
Le paquet B—partira demain a Votre Adresse—Les prix sont:
| Moliere—pap. ord. 8 Vol. brochè— | 192 | Cents | |
| Racine—ditto—5—ditto— | 139 | ||
| Corneille—pap. fin—4 Vol. reliè en Veau av. filets— | 274 | ||
| Anacharsis—9 Vol. en 12mo. av. 1 Atlas en 4to.—reliè en basane | 928 | . | |
| 15,32 | |||
Je suis fachè, que je ne puisse plus Vous presenter Mol. et Racine dans la reliure nette de Corneille.
Je Vous prie d’accepter mes profonds respects.
Reibelt
Editors’ Translation
Baltimore, 17 Feb. 1805
Mister President!
Among the works you ordered in your letter of the 15th, which I received yesterday evening, namely:
| A) | Milton, Paradise Lost, from Barrois | ||
| Gibbon, Decline of the Roman Empire, Basel edition | |||
| Lucretius | |
La Grange’s | |
| Seneca | |||
| B) | Works of Molière | |
in 18mo. format. | |
| Works of Racine | ||||
| Works of Corneille | ||||
| Barthélemy’s Anacharsis | ||||
I can provide only the four last titles, under heading (B), for the moment. Under (A), I sold all my copies of the first two, and have not yet received copies of the other two, but I await them and will not lose a moment in sending you all four.
The (B) package will go out tomorrow to your address. These are the prices:
| Molière, ordinary paper, eight volumes, soft cover | 192 | cents |
| Racine, ditto, five volumes | 139 | |
| Corneille, premium paper, four volumes bound in calfskin with gilding | 274 | |
| Anacharsis, nine volumes in duodecimo with one atlas in quarto, bound in sheepskin | 928 | |
| $15.32 |
I am disappointed not to be able to provide Molière and Racine in the same handsome binding as Corneille.
Please accept my deep respect.
Reibelt
RC (DLC); above signature: “Le Depot Americ. General de Levrault, Schoell et Comp. Imprim. Libraires a Paris”; endorsed by TJ as received 18 Feb. and so recorded in SJL.