RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thos Jefferson Esqr”; endorsed by TJ as received 14 May 1809 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Description of Morneveck’s impenetrable stucco, reporting that James Madison had awarded a patent to the stucco; that Morneveck had succeeded where all ancient and modern efforts had failed; that his stucco was far superior to slates, tiles, and shingles, being far lighter and harder, “and not in the least fragile being elastic, and will not crack by a blow from a hammer, nor the strongest frost, and also resists a brand of fire”; that the inventor is too modest to say much more, and therefore adding a 28 Feb. 1809 testimonial by United States Supreme Court justices John Marshall, Bushrod Washington, William Livingston Jr., and Brockholst Livingston that they had witnessed a demonstration in which the stucco withstood intense flame, that the inventor asserted that it was “equally secure against the heaviest rains,” and that he therefore deserved “the patronage of the public for so useful a discovery”; with a fuller description on verso indicating that the stucco’s color was “a dark and brilliant slate, which is the prevailing taste”; that roofs covered with it would be safe from firebrands from nearby blazes; that the stucco can be used to treat wood from trees not otherwise useful for building, such as Lombardy poplar, gum, and willow; that it can be prepared throughout the year in towns and on farms and plantations at a cost of only one cent per square foot; that it is best applied in “serene weather, from the spring to the fall,” but that the trial on a shingle before the Supreme Court succeeded even in a stormy season; that those wanting to make and use the stucco were encouraged to apply to the patentee in Baltimore or to his agent Hiort in Washington; and that American printers were urged to insert this notice in their publications as a public service (printed broadside in DLC: Rare Book and Special Collections, addressed by Hiort: “Thos Jefferson Esqr”; partially printed in Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 19 May 1809).