David Bailie Warden to Thomas Jefferson, 14 July 1816
From David Bailie Warden
Paris, 14 July, 1816.
Dear Sir,
I had the honour of writing to you, on the 12th Instant, inclosing the invoice of your Books, which mr. Carere of Baltimore had promised to have shipped on board his vessel about to sail for that port: but the house of Hottinguer has since informed me, that they have been put on board of the ship united states, bound to New york, and addressed to the Collector of that port. I inclose the Bill of lading and account of charges.—
It gave me much pleasure to see mr. Terril, whom you were pleased to introduce to me. He is a young Gentleman of great promise. Baron Humboldt bids me present you his respects: he has, on several occasions, expressed his regret in not hearing from you for a long time. The London quarterly review of may last, contains a severe attack against him excited probably by the liberal principles of all his writings, and the praise which they have recieved from the Edinburgh Reviewers.1 I am, dear Sir, very respectfully
D. B. Warden
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received 18 Sept. 1816 and so recorded in SJL. FC (MdHi: Warden Letterbook); entirely in Warden’s hand. Enclosures: (1) Hottinguer & Compagnie’s Bill of Lading for Books Shipped to TJ, 28 June 1816, stating that the firm had placed on the ship United States, under the master Destebecho and bound from Le Havre for New York City, “One Case Containing Library” marked “MTJ N° 1./.” to be delivered to the collector of New York, who will pay “freight for the said Goods fifteen dollars per tun measurement & 10 p% primage” (printed form in DLC: TJ Papers, 207:36946; with blanks filled in an unidentified hand rendered above in italics). (2) Hottinguer & Compagnie to David Gelston, Le Havre, 1 July 1816, informing him in his capacity as collector of New York that “The ship United States, captain Destebecho, will convey to you a Box marked, MTJ—Containing books—This Package is from Mr Bure of Paris with instructions to address it to your care for the late President the Honble Thos Jefferson—Enclosed you receive the Bill of lading with which please do the needful—For the amount of our expences as pr note on the other Side in ƒ25–25¢ we shall understand ourselves with our Paris friend” (Dupl in MHi; in a clerk’s hand, signed by a representative of Hottinguer & Compagnie; in red ink at head of text: “Dupe 1st Pr United States”; conjoined with Hottinguer & Compagnie’s Bill for Carriage of a Box of Books, 1 July 1816 (printed below); addressed: “To The Collector of the Port of New York New York Dup: Hesperus”). (3) Hottinguer & Compagnie’s Order on Warden, Le Havre, 9 July 1816, addressed to him at the “place de l’abbaie No 8. près la rue du Colombier,” Paris, asking that he pay in Paris, at sight and to the firm’s order, ƒ25.25 for value received (MS in DLC: TJ Papers, 207:36947; in French; written on a small scrap in two different hands, with address and signature in the hand of a representative of the firm; at foot of text: “H & C N: 3369”; endorsed in an unidentified hand: “30eme August hottinguer”). (4) Hottinguer & Compagnie to Warden, Le Havre, 9 July 1816, enclosing nos. 1 and 3 and observing that, since “Every thing here wears an extreme dull aspect, and the news from England is replete with Statements of Commercial distresses,” they “can only wait for better times with patience” (RC in DLC: TJ Papers, 207:36945; in the hand of a representative of the firm and signed by him; between dateline and salutation: “Paris D. B. Warden Esque”; endorsed by Warden). Other enclosure printed below. Enclosed in TJ to David Gelston, 19 Sept. 1816, and Gelston to TJ, 26 Sept. 1816.
Hottinguer & Compagnie, a powerful French merchant-banking firm, was founded in 1786 under the name of Rougemont, Hottinguer & Compagnie by Denis de Rougemont and Jean Conrad Hottinguer (1764–1841), a businessman from Zurich who immigrated to Paris in 1784. After a series of false starts and name changes, the company established itself in 1798 under the sole leadership of Hottinguer. Originally specializing in the coffee and cotton trades, Hottinguer & Compagnie soon became an important adviser and financier of the French state. In 1803 Hottinguer was appointed regent of the recently established Bank of France. By 1815 the firm had achieved a high national and international standing, with branches in Nantes, Le Havre, Marseille, and New York. Hottinguer & Compagnie played a prominent role in managing France’s war debt following Napoleon’s fall in 1815, and after 1826 it became an important lender to the Bank of the United States. The company continued to thrive thanks to its participation in the crucial financial events of the time, from the establishment of European railway systems in the second half of the nineteenth century to the two world wars and the Great Depression. More recently the firm split into several companies, collectively known as the Hottinguer Group and specializing in administering the accounts of individual investors, corporate finance, and international investment policy (Messieurs Hottinguer, Banquiers à Paris, 2 vols. [1968–72]; The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the year 1830 [1830], 1:208; The American Annual Register; for the years 1827–8–9 [1830], 577; Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 9 Nov. 1839; Paul Jacques Lehmann, “Les Hottinguer, Banquiers classiques de la haute banque,” La Vie Financière, 26 Aug.–1 Sept. 2005, 44–7; Commerce International, July 2007, 1–4; L’Agefi, 1 June 2010, 4).
, 17:1315–6; Max Gérard,The London Quarterly Review 14 (Jan. 1816; published 18 May 1816): 368–402, contained a severe attack on Alexander von Humboldt, Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804. by Alexander de Humboldt, and Aimé Bonpland (London, 1814), trans. Helen Maria Williams, vols. 1–2 (for TJ’s French ed., see no. 4157). The same work received praise in the Edinburgh Review 25 (1815): 86–111.
1. FC ends here.
Index Entries
- Bonpland, Aimé Goujaud; Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804. by Alexander de Humboldt, and Aimé Bonpland (trans. H. M. Williams) search
- books; packing and shipping of search
- books; sent by D. B. Warden search
- Carrere, John; and transportation of TJ’s books search
- de Bure Frères (Paris firm); TJ purchases books from search
- Destebecho, Mr. (ship captain) search
- Edinburgh Review; and review of Humboldt’sPersonal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804 search
- Gelston, David; and books for TJ search
- Gelston, David; collector at New York search
- Hottinguer & Compagnie (French firm); and books for TJ search
- Hottinguer & Compagnie (French firm); identified search
- Humboldt, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Baron von; and D. B. Warden search
- Humboldt, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Baron von; Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804. by Alexander de Humboldt, and Aimé Bonpland (trans. H. M. Williams) search
- Humboldt, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Baron von; sends greetings to TJ search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; packing and shipping of search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; purchases from de Bure Frères (Paris firm) search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; works sent to search
- Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804. by Alexander de Humboldt, and Aimé Bonpland (trans. H. M. Williams) search
- Quarterly Review search
- Terrell, Dabney Carr (TJ’s sister Martha Jefferson Carr’s grandson); letters of introduction for search
- United States (ship) search
- Warden, David Bailie; and A. von Humboldt search
- Warden, David Bailie; and books for TJ search
- Warden, David Bailie; letters from search
- Warden, David Bailie; TJ introduces D. C. Terrell to search
- Williams, Helen Maria; translatesPersonal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the years 1799–1804. by Alexander de Humboldt, and Aimé Bonpland search