1. lb giving 1. coat to 10. yards: TJ’s calculations were based on estimates provided by painter Richard Barry in his 2 Dec. letter to Peter Lenox. Barry estimated that if good lead were purchased and then ground under his direction, one pound would suffice for 10 square yards instead of the generally accepted allowance of one pound to 8 square yards. Barry declared that it was “Much to the Presidents advantage to get lead unground it’s the only way to get few of adulteration it will go farther and look Neater.” Barry restated his commitment to begin work at Monticello on 10 Mch. for the agreed-upon wage of $30 a month.

On an undated slip, TJ made “a very loose estimate of the painting,” similar in appearance to the above list but including only the nine areas to be painted and their square yardage (MHi).

Michael Roberts and William Zane were Philadelphia ironmongers, although both were out of business by late 1804 (James Robinson, The Philadelphia Directory for 1804 [Philadelphia, 1804], 197; Thomas Stephens, Stephens’s Philadelphia Directory, for 1796 [Philadelphia, 1796], 206; Philadelphia Gazette and Universal Daily Advertiser, 4 Jan. 1800; Relfs Philadelphia Gazette, 27 Oct. 1804, 26 Apr. 1805).