To Thomas Jefferson from Philippe Reibelt, 30 January 1805
From Philippe Reibelt
Baltimore le 30 Janv. 1805
Monsieur le President!
Ayant rencontré parmi mes Gravures particuliéres deux d’un Genre, que je pense de Votre Gout—j’ose Vous les presenter çijoint.
Daignez les accepter—comme une humble Offrande d’un homme, dont les principes republicains invariables jusqu’ici—commencoient a le former theoretiquement aux Universités de l’autre Cotè de l’Océan, lorsque Vous de çe Coté ci travailliez practiquement a l’etablissement de la vraie Libertè et egalitè politique.
J’ajoute du Magazin quelques Gravures tres recherchées du Celebre Gessner, qui ne Vous deplairont pas non plus—Le prix de ces dernièrs est 20 Cents p. pièce.
J’ai l’honneur dêtre avec le plus profond respect—Monsieur! Votre tr. hble. et tr. Obs. St.
Reibelt.
Editors’ Translation
Baltimore, 30 Jan. 1805
Mister President!
Finding among my prints two that I think might be to your liking, I take the liberty of enclosing them.
Please accept them as the humble offering of a man whose unswerving republican principles began to take shape in theory in universities on the other side of the ocean while, on this side, you were working in practice to establish true liberty and political equality.
I have also enclosed a few sought-after prints by the famous Gessner that will also please you. They are 20 cents each.
With deepest respect, Sir, I have the privilege of being your very humble and obedient servant.
Reibelt
RC (DLC); endorsed by TJ as received 1 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures not found, but see below.
mes Gravures: these were apparently architectural sketches (TJ to Reibelt, 9 Feb.; Reibelt to TJ, 13 Feb.).
Celebre Gessner: probably Solomon Gessner, an eighteenth-century Swiss poet and painter who achieved wide popularity for his pastoral works (E. C. Knowlton, “Pastoral in the Eighteenth Century,” Modern Language Notes, 32 [1917], 471-2).