To James Madison from William Prentiss, 7 March 1817
From William Prentiss
City of Washington, March 7th. 1817
Sir
I take the Liberty of enclosing you a prospectus of a Reading Room for the Metropolis of the Union upon an improved plan,1 and respectfully to solicit your patronage for the Institution.
From the countenace at present shewn to the undertaking, the establishment promises soon to be in a prosperous condition.
In retirement from public life—I pray you may enjoy health, with the pleasing consolation of having faithfully discharged your duty to our beloved country—yours with great respect
Wm Prentiss2
RC (DLC). Partial cover addressed by Prentiss to JM at Washington; docketed by JM.
1. Prentiss enclosed a broadside, Reading Room, Continued on an Improved Plan (1 p.; DLC: Madison Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division; 41874), dated 4 Mar. 1817, in which he noted that he had “taken a more convenient place,” and intended “to supply coffee, &c. at moderate prices.” He offered subscriptions to his establishment which would carry “papers from all parts of the Union, European publications, Maps, &c.,” for ten dollars a year.
2. William Prentiss (ca. 1755–1831) had been a “fiscal and building agent” in Washington for John Nicholson (Daily National Intelligencer, 29 Jan. 1831; Allen C. Clark, Greenleaf and Law in the Federal City [Washington, 1901], 125).