To Thomas Jefferson from William W. Woodward, 28 February 1804
From William W. Woodward
Philada. February 28th. 1804.
Dear Sir,
I have taken a liberty, which I should not have done, had I not felt confident of your approbation—In a package, which I send by this mail, you will find a Sheet and Proposal of Dr. Scotts’ highly improved and admired edition of the Holy Bible—the first Volume of which will make its appearance the last of next month—and the others to be published as fast as they can be received from Europe. I have also in the press a new and much improved edition of Adams’ lectures—a Sheet of it as I am now printing it, is enclosed in the package, with a proposal.—If, dear Sir, you approve of, and wish to patronize the above, I shall feel a happiness in having your name among my numerous, and respectable patrons.
I am dear Sir Your Humble Servant
W. W. Woodward.—
RC (CSmH); at foot of text: “His Excellency Thomas Jefferson President of the U States”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: William Woodward’s proposal for printing by subscription in four volumes The Family Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, with Original Notes and Practical Observations, with commentary by the Reverend Thomas Scott (printed copy in DLC: Printed Ephemera Collection). Other enclosure not found, but see below.
William W. Woodward (ca. 1770-1837) was a printer, stationer, and bookseller who specialized in religious, legal, and medical works from his Philadelphia shop at 52 South Second Street. Between 1804 and 1809, he produced the first American edition of Scott’s Bible, based on a newly released second London edition. According to a list appended at the end of Woodward’s proposal, TJ signed his name as a subscriber to one unbound copy of the Bible “in boards” (Philadelphia Aurora, 8 Mch. 1804; No. 1471; , 2:1195; , 2:321). TJ addressed a communication to Woodward at his address in Philadelphia that may have been a subscription form for Scott’s Bible (MS of address sheet only, Ralph R. Weaver, Roslyn Estates, N.Y., 1960; franked; postmarked Washington, 9 Mch.; see TJ to Woodward, 21 Dec. 1806, in MoSHi: Jefferson Papers).
adams’ lectures: George Adams, Jr., a British mathematical instrument maker to King George III, was the author of Lectures on Natural and Experimental Philosophy, first published in London in five volumes in 1794 (). In 1806, Woodward printed a revised American edition that included corrections by Robert Patterson as well as a brief outline of modern chemistry (, No. 9799; No. 3734; Philadelphia Aurora, 17 Sep. 1803, 3 Apr. 1804, 7 Mch. 1805).