Books

Hardcover. Full calf, original binding. Maroon label on the spine, stamped in gold, "JEFFERSO". Corners bumped and some scuffing to edges. Hinges cracked but cords secure, both front and back. An attractive, although unassuming, binding. 2 blank pages at the front. Title page has early ownership name on it, "Geo: P Keeports, Baltimore." His name signed again at the top of the first page, along with the cost "$1.50" and the date, "Nov 1800." 194 pages + blank page + 53 numbered pages of appendices + 3 blank leaves at the end. Outline of Madison's Cave present opposite page 23. Half page map of Pittsburgh and the Ohio River on the final page of the final appendix. Folding table of Indian Tribes located between pages 96 and 97. Very good (no tears) condition. Several other single page tables. Appendix 1 is 13 pages, contains additional information and notes on the text (written in part by Charles Thompson). Appendix 2 (pages 13-26) contains a draft of the Constitution of the State of VA. Appendix 3 (pages 26-28) contains a draft of the Statute to Establish Religious Freedom. Appendix 4 (pages 29-53) "Relative to the Murder of Logan's Family." Letters and notes pertaining to Jefferson's section on a revenge killing of an innocent Indian family in 1774. Latest letter is dated Feb 13, 1800. Binding is good and tight throughout. Text block clean and complete. Pages have some mild foxing and toning, but nothing that will seem amiss to anyone who has handled early American paper. Jefferson's Notes were published in French in 1785; in London in 1787. First American Edition was 1788 (Prichard and Hall, Philadelphia). Second American was 1794 (Matthew Carey, Philadelphia). That 1794 edition was the first edition to include the large folding map. This Baltimore edition was printed in 1800. Then, there were 4 editions printed in 1801 (Philadelphia, Boston, Newark and New York) when he became President. The Baltimore edition (this one) was the only edition published south of the Mason-Dixon Line, despite the fact that Jefferson was a Virginian. There is no indication that this edition ever included the large folding map, nor the frontispiece engraving included in the 1801 editions. While not as important as the first or second US editions, this Baltimore edition is currently more scarce. The original ownership name: George Peters Keeports. Keeports (1753-1817) was the Keeper of Public Arms" in Baltimore from 1776-1779 -- a Lieutenant in Nathanial Smith's artillery in 1776; a Captain in the German Regiment in 1777. He wrote a letter to George Washington asking for the position of Surveyor for the Baltimore District in 1793. Keeport placed a notice in the Dec 1, 1789 edition of the Maryland Journal offering an $8 reward for the return of a runaway slave named Eleanor. In addition, it's worth mentioning that this edition contains a draft of Jefferson's Statute of Religious Freedom -- written in 1777, enacted by Virginia in 1786 -- and often cited as inspiration for the Establishment clause of US Constitution. Jefferson listed only three personal achievements on his own tombstone -- the Declaration of Independence, the University of Virginia, and the Stature for Religious Freedom. I can find no earlier copy in a book than this draft (though surely there must be something? - anyone know?). Please email with questions or to request photos.