Books

[4], 244, [4 bookseller advts] pp, as issued. Woodcut map of Madison's Cave at page [20]; folding letterpress table on the Indians of Virginia [archival restoration at blank outer margin and reinforcement of fold, text unaffected]. The folding and in-text tables describe and compare Quadrupeds of Europe and America; the Birds of Virginia, rainfall, settlers, militia, Indians, crimes, trade. Original calf [hinges, spine ends, corners with expert restoration], gilt-lettered spine title on red morocco, gilt spine rules. First Prichard advertisement leaf has a small chip, affecting three letters. Light foxing. Very Good, with interesting provenance. This first American edition of Jefferson's most significant work has an extremely interesting provenance. The first front free endpaper is signed by Judith C. Lewis; the second by her father, Robert Lewis [and dated 1787]. "The tenth son of Betty and Fielding Lewis, Robert Lewis was also George Washington's nephew and served as his secretary between 1789 to 1791. During this time period Lewis escorted his aunt, Martha Washington, and her grandchildren from Mount Vernon to the presidential mansion in New York. Lewis, however, was paid less than any of Washington's other secretaries, whose salaries were twice as high. Lewis also served as a temporary manager at Mount Vernon from 1790-1792, during the illness of his cousin, George Augustine Washington. At the end of Lewis' term at Mount Vernon, George Washington placed Lewis in charge of managing his lands in western Virginia. In 1793, Washington gave Lewis a plot of inherited land in Stafford County, and provided a larger piece of inherited land in 1796 in Fauquier County. Later in life, Lewis was elected several times to the office of mayor in Fredericksburg, Virginia" ["Robert Lewis", In The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington. Retrieved October, 2023, from website of George Washington's Mount Vernon ] The Advertisement, dated 27 February 1787, explains that "The following Notes were written in Virginia in the year 1781, and somewhat corrected and enlarged in the winter of 1782, in answer to Queries proposed to the Author, by a Foreigner of Distinction, then residing among us. . . He had a few copies printed, which he gave among his friends: and a translation of them has been lately published in France, but with such alterations as the laws of the press in that country rendered necessary. They are now offered to the public in their original form and language." FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Howes J78; Sabin 35897.