[Manuscript notes for] The University of Virginia Library, 1825-1950; story of a Jeffersonian foundation. |
NOTES TO I. 1819-1826. THE FOUNDING OF THE LIBRARY |
 |
|
 | [Manuscript notes for] The University of Virginia Library, 1825-1950; |  |
NOTES TO I. 1819-1826. THE FOUNDING OF THE LIBRARY
The abbreviations indicated below are used for the books which are
most frequently referred to in the notes for this period.
Boyd Jefferson, Thomas. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Julian P. Boyd,
editor... Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1950-
Bruce Bruce, Philip Alexander. History of the University of Virginia,
1819-1919. New York, Macmillan, c1920-1922. Five volumes
Cometti Jefferson's Ideas On a University Library: Letters from the
Founder of the University of Virginia to a Boston Bookseller. Edited
by Elizabeth Cometti. Charlottesville, The Tracy W. McGregor
Library, 1950
1828 Catalogue 1828 Catalogue of the Library of the University of Virginia.
Reproduced in Facsimile with an Introduction by William Harwood Peden.
University of Virginia Bibliographical Series, Number Six. Charlottesville,
Printed for the Alderman Library of the University of
Virginia, 1945
Ford Jefferson, Thomas. The Works of Thomas Jefferson. Federal edition.
Collected and edited by Paul Leicester Ford. New York, Putnam,
1904-1905. Twelve volumes
Johnston Johnston, William Dawson. History of the Library of Congress.
Washington, Government Printing Office, 1904. Volume I, 1800-1864
Kimball Kimball, Marie. Jefferson: The Road to Glory, 1743 to 1776.
New York, Coward-McCann, c1943
Lipscomb Jefferson, Thomas. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Memorial
edition... Andrew A. Lipscomb... Editor-in-Chief... Washington,
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1903-1904. Twenty volumes
Malone Malone, Dumas. Jefferson the Virginian. Boston, Little, Brown
and Company, 1948
Mearns Mearns, David C. The Story Up To Now: The Library of Congress,
1800-1946. Washington, 1947. (Reprinted from the annual report of
the Librarian of Congress for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1946...)
Peden dissertation Peden, William Harwood. Thomas Jefferson: Book-Collector.
A dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the
University of Virginia in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy, 1942. (A typewritten copy has been deposited in the
Alderman Library, University of Virginia.)
Shores Shores, Louis. Origins of the American College Library, 1638-1800.
New York, Barnes &Noble, c1935
1. The term "Father of the University" is Jefferson's own. He left
a memorandum stating his desire that there be placed on his tombstone the
following inscription:
Here lies Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of Independence,
Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom,
And Father of the University of Virginia.
2. Morison, Samuel Eliot, The Founding of Harvard College. Cambridge,
1935, p. 264;
3. The earliest printed form of this story seems to be in Clap,
Thomas, The Annals or History of Yale-College, New Haven, 1766, pp. 3,4.
The authenticity of certain details — the date, and whether the books were
actually given or merely offered — has been questioned, for example by
Dexter, Franklin Bowditch, The Founding of Yale College (in his A Selection
of Miscellaneous Historical Papers of Fifty Years, New Haven, 1918,
pp. 59-83), and by Oviatt, Edwin, The Beginnings of Yale, 1701-1826, New
Haven, 1916, pp. 159-161. But there seems to be agreement that the offering
of books marked the beginning of the College.
4. A detailed account is given in The Early Years of the University
Library by Sarah Dowlin Jones in the Fall 1950 Bicentennial Issue of The
Library Chronicle issued by the Friends of the University of Pennsylvania
Library. The Academy was opened for classes in 1751, and the charter of
the combined Academy, College, and Charitable School of Philadelphia was
granted in 1755. The College Library also inherited the services of Peter
Collinson, who had acted as foreign agent for the Philadelphia Library
Company since 1732.
5. The letter from William Dickson to Eleazar Wheelock, dated 22 April
1763, and announcing this gift, has been preserved in the Dartmouth Library.
A list of the twenty titles is given in Shores, pp. 97, 98. See also
Shores, p. 46.
6. Collins, Varnum Lansing, Princeton, New York, 1914, p. 28; Wertenbaker,
Thomas Jefferson, Princeton 1764-1896, Princeton, 1946, p. 106. Shores,
p. 251, states from Vinton, Frederic, The College Library (in The Princeton
Book, 1879), that there were 474 volumes in the gift.
7. Keep, Austin Baxter, History of the New York Society Library, New
York, 1908, pp. 84-86.
8. There is a sketch of Jeremiah Dummer by James Truslow Adams in the
Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 5, pp. 502, 503. A fuller account of
his success in collecting books for Yale is given on pp. 127-133 and elsewhere
of Shores.
9. Bronson, Walter C., The History of Brown University, 1764-1914,
Providence, 1914, p. 108.
10. Bronson, pp. 109, 110.
11. Hening, William Waller, The Statutes at Large (Virginia), Richmond,
1809-1823. Thirteen volumes. Vol. 4, pp. 482, 483 (Chapter XV, section
IX, August 1734)
12. Virginia, Acts of General Assembly, 1818-1819, pp. 15-18 (Part I,
chapter XIX, 25 January 1819).
13. Bruce, vol. 1, pp. 95-208 (Germination: Academy and College).
14. Letter from Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, Lipscomb, vol. 14, p. 60.
See also Bruce, vol. 2, p. 37. There is an article on Joseph Priestley
by John F. Fulton in the Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 15, pp. 223226.
15. Full accounts of the acquisition of Jefferson's second library for
the Library of Congress are given in Johnston, pp. 65-104, in Mearns,
pp. 15-25, and in the Peden dissertation, pp. 142-155.
16. Virginia, Acts of General Assembly, 1823-1824, p. 11 (6 March 1824).
This appropriation was contingent on the payment by the Federal Government
of a claim presented by Virginia for advances and expenditures by the State
for local defense during the War of 1812-1815.
17. Manuscript minutes of University of Virginia Board of Visitors for
7 April 1824.
18. Minutes of Board of Visitors for 5 April 1824.
19. The fullest account of Gilmer is given in Davis, Richard Beale,
Francis Walker Gilmer: Life and Learning in Jefferson's Virginia, Richmond,
1939. The quotation from Gilmer is taken from a letter written in Edinburgh
26 July 1824 to Major David Watson, the letter being printed in full in
Davis's biography, pp. 213-214.
20. The "Catalogue furnished by Dr. Samuel Parr' is in the manuscript
collection of the Alderman Library. It consists of eighteen manuscript pages,
folio size, it is dated 23 August 1824, and it bears also the name of Benjamin
Kennedy, who may have acted as amanuensis. There is a sketch of Samuel
Parr (1747-1825) by Leslie Stephen in vol. 43, pp. 356-364, of the Dictionary
of National Biography.
21. The mention of Bohn appears in a letter from Gilmer to Jefferson,
written in New York 30 November 1824, shortly after Gilmer landed on his
return. This letter is printed in Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson and
Francis Walker Gilmer, 1814-1826, edited by Richard Beale Davis, Columbia,
South Carolina, 1946, pp. 121, 122.
22. On 19 January 1825 in fact. The arrival in Charlottesville is recorded
in the University Proctor's Day Book (1821-1828, p. 321) and in the Proctor's
Journal (vol. 2, 1819-1828, p. 348), both of which are in the manuscript collection
at the Alderman Library. The express charges amounted to $25.38,
and the payment to Col. Bernard Peyton of Richmond, who handled the transportation
of these books from England, was of $50.41.
23. The statement is quoted as follows in the Peden dissertation, pp. 171,
172:-
"Mr. Hansford, of the County of King George, had made an early present
of some good books to the University. Mr. Bernard More Carter, a native of
Virginia, now resident in London, has lately sent a valuable collection of
between 3. and 400 volumes, well chosen, and well bound; and more recently,
Mr. Coolidge, a gentleman of Boston, has given nearly a hundred volumes, of
peculiar choice and value, and notice of other intended donations have been
recieved from others who may be assured that their talent shall not be hidden
in the earth."
In the 1828 Catalogue the titles of the three gifts mentioned are
listed. Under the name of Mr. Theod: Hansford there are eight titles, fifteen
volumes; under that of Mr. Bernard M. Carter there are seventy-two
titles, 337 volumes; and under that of Mr. Joseph Coolidge, there are thirty-eight
titles, eighty-five volumes.
24. The statements concerning the arrangements with William Hilliard of
Cummings, Hilliard and Company are taken from Cometti.
25. The list was enclosed with Jefferson's letter to Hilliard of 3 June
1825, printed in Cometti, p. 25. A copy of the list, apparently in the handwriting
of Nicholas P. Trist, is preserved in the manuscript collection of the
Alderman Library. See a fuller statement in Note 54.
26. This manuscript catalogue, dated 16 May 1825, is preserved in the rare
book and manuscript division of the Alderman Library. On the first page it
records the following totals:-
168 folios
388 4tos
1609 8vos
171 12 mos et infra
2358 in 526 general articles
by another computation 2,436 vols.
With alphabetical index.
Perhaps by "articles" Librarian Kean meant titles.
27. See letters from Jefferson to Cummings &Hilliard, written by Jefferson
at Monticello 9 and 22 April 1826 and printed in Cometti, pp. 39-44.
28. The statement in the manuscript Faculty Minutes for 19 December 1826 is
as follows: "On motion of Mr. Key, a Catalogue of the Books of the Library
is ordered to be printed under the Superintendence of Mr. Key and Dr.
Dunglison."
29. The catalogue was printed in 1828 by Gilmer, Davis &Company of Charlottesville.
It is the 1945 reproduction in facsimile that is referred to
in these notes as 1828 Catalogue.
30. A count of the titles in the 1828 Catalogue gives a total of 3,111.
For a few titles the number of volumes is not indicated. The total for those
that are indicated is 8,099. The exact total of volumes was therefore something
over 8,100.
31. The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year
1830... Boston, Published by Gray and Bowen, New York, By G. and C. and H.
Carvill. The list of "Colleges in the United States" is on pp. 226, 227.
32. The present estimate is fifty-two volumes for The Papers of Thomas
Jefferson... Julian P. Boyd, Editor... Princeton, Princeton University Press,
1950-
33. Pennell, E. R. and J., The Life of James McNeill Whistler, new and
revised edition, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1911, p. 171.
34. That Jefferson's education was in effect gained from a succession of
four private tutors is pointed out in Malone, p. 55. The college phase of
it was the result of chaotic conditions in the William and Mary Faculty during
Jefferson's student days (1760-1762). As is stated in Malone, p. 51:
"When Jefferson arrived on the scene... [Professor Small] was then teaching
physics, metaphysics, and mathematics, and through force of circumstances
was soon teaching practically everything."
Of William Douglas, it is recorded in Kimball, p. 31: "He appears to
have had a considerable library as his books were valued at 150 pounds in the
inventory of his estate." The footnote reference is to the "Louisa County
[Virginia] Records, Will Book No. 5, pp. 196-97."
Of James Maury, Mrs. Kimball's volume records: "At the Reverend Mr.
Maury's he came in contact with a library such as he had never before known,
and it is inevitable that his own passion for books was stimulated by it. It
is a source of regret that no catalogue or list of Maury's books has been preserved.
The inventory that was filed with his will merely makes mention of
`1 Book Press with 400 volumes of Books, 44 Pamphlets.' " The footnote reference
is to the "Albemarle County Will Book No. 2, p. 256."
The influence exerted by William Small and George Wythe is discussed
in Malone, pp. 102-104. Jefferson succinctly paid tribute to these teachers
in his Autobiography, Lipscomb, pp. 3 and 4. When George Wythe died in 1806,
his private library was willed to Jefferson. Cf. Peden dissertation, pp. 136,
137.
35. Kimball, pp. 53, 102, 103.
36. It is stated in Mearnes, p. 4, that full privileges of the New York
Society Library were granted to the members of "The Gen'l Gov't of the United
States" while those members were assembled in New York; and that similar
privileges were later extended in Philadelphia by the Library Company in that
city. Of course the Library of the American Philosophical Society in
Philadelphia was familiar to Jefferson, as he was not only an active member
but was, in January 1797, elected its President. It is taken for granted that
Jefferson became acquainted with libraries abroad during the six years (17841789)
of his diplomatic mission. His interest, however, was then concentrated
more on booksellers and printers than on libraries, and he bought books
steadily for himself and for others, notably for James Madison.
37. The Library of Congress was established in 1800. But it was during
Jefferson's presidency (1801-1809) that the enabling act, the first charter
of governance, was passed by Congress (1802). Jefferson's letter of 14 April
1802 to Senator Abraham Baldwin concerning the selection of books is printed
in Mearns, pp. 12, 13. As President, Jefferson appointed the first two
Librarians of Congress, John James Beckley (1802-1807) and Patrick Magruder
(1807-1815).
38. An example is a letter of 3 August 1771 to Robert Skipwith. This letter
and its List of Books for a Private Library are printed in Boyd, vol. 1,
pp. 76-81. The list is arranged by subjects, and the price is indicated for
each book.
Among other somewhat similar letters are the following:-
To Peter Carr, 19 August 1785. Lipscomb, vol. 5, pp. 82-87.
To Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., 27 August 1786. Ford, vol. 5, pp. 174-179.
To Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., 6 July 1787. Ford, vol. 5, pp. 298-301.
To Peter Carr, 10 August 1787. Ford, vol. 5, pp. 322-328.
To John Garland Jefferson, 11 June 1790. Ford, vol. 6, pp. 70-77.
39. See letter to John Minor, 30 August 1814. Ford, vol. 11, pp. 420426.
Jefferson's statement to Minor was: "I have at length found the paper
of which you requested a copy. It was written nearly 50. years ago for the
use of a young friend whose course of reading was confided to me; and it
formed a basis for the studies of others subsequently placed under my direction,
but curtailed for each in proportion to his previous acquirements
and future views. I shall give it to you without change, except as to the
books recommended to be read; later publications enabling me in some of the
departments of science to substitute better, for the less perfect publications
which we then possessed. In this the modern student has great
advantage."
Kimball, p. 79, notes that the "young friend" was Bernard Moore of
Chelsea, King William County, Virginia.
40. A booklet entitled A Virginia Gentleman's Library, containing an
Introduction by Arthur Pierce Middleton, the Jefferson-Skipwith correspondence
of 1771, and the list of books was issued in 1952 by Colonial
Williamsburg as "a keepsake to those attending the joint meeting of the
Bibliographical Society of America and the Bibliographical Society of the
University of Virginia on May 9-10, 1952."
41. Kimball, pp. 12, 13; Malone, pp. 32, 33.
42. A list of the "Books Purchased by Thomas Jefferson Through the Office
of the Virginia Gazette" is given in the Peden dissertation, pp. 228-231.
43. The entry is "Dr. Emmet for a Book." Cf. Peden dissertation, p. 107.
John P. Emmet was Professor of Natural History in the earliest Faculty of
the University of Virginia. He was a cousin of the famous Irish patriot.
44. The following list of booksellers with whom Jefferson is known to have
done business has been culled from the pages of the Peden dissertation,
the numbers following the entries indicating pages in that dissertation.
The Peden sources are chiefly the account books of Thomas Jefferson. In
some cases the account book items are not very clear.
Aiken (or Aitken), Robert. Philadelphia. 105, 110, 122.
Aikman. Annapolis. 105.
Bache, Benjamin Franklin. Philadelphia. 123, 127, 129.
Bailly, Francis. Philadelphia. 111.
Barnes, James. Philadelphia; later Georgetown, 128, 135.
Belair, Lewis D. New York. 166.
Bell, Robert. Philadelphia. 105, 110.
Bohn, Henry. London. 175.
Boinod and Gaillard. Philadelphia. 111.
Bradford, William, III. Philadelphia. 106.
Carey, Matthew. Philadelphia. 121, 128, 129, 162.
Cummings and Hilliard. Boston. 176.
De Bras. Paris. 115
De Bures Frères. Paris. 160, 162.
De Gelane, Fernagus. New York. 165.
Deltufo. Paris. 115.
Demeunier. Paris. 115.
Dilly. London, 116.
Dobson, Thomas. Philadelphia. 129.
Duane, William. Philadelphia. 127, 129, 131, 133, 134.
Dufief, Nicholas Gouin. Philadelphia. 129, 136, 140, 163, 164.
Fitzwhylson and Potter. Richmond. 165.
Frouillé. Paris. 114, 120.
Gerna. Paris. 115.
Goldsmith. Paris. 115.
Gray, William F. Fredericksburg. 140, 165.
Guegan, Henry. Baltimore. 166.
Hall, David. Philadelphia. 106.
Lackington, James. London. 116, 161, 162, 175.
La Motte. Paris. 115.
Laval, John. Philadelphia. 163.
Law, John. New York. 140.
March, John. Washington. 134.
Mulligan, Joseph. Georgetown. 75, 138, 140, 144, 146, 152, 164.
Molini. Paris. 114, 115.
Pearson, Benson. Williamsburg. 102.
Pifsot. Paris. 115.
Pinelli. London. 116.
Pougens. Paris. 133.
Prevost. Paris. 115.
Pritchard, William. Philadelphia. 110.
Purdie. Williamsburg. 107, 108, 109.
Rapin and Conrad, later Conrad &Company, Washington. 132, 134, 140.
Reibelt, J. P. Baltimore, later New Orleans. 134, 136.
Rivington, James. New York. 110.
Royer. Paris. 114, 115.
Stockdale, John. London. 115.
Styner and Cist. Philadelphia. 111.
Virginia Gazette. Williamsburg. 95, 228.
Waller, Benjamin. Williamsburg. 97, 102.
Watson, John F. Germantown. 166.
Wells and Lilly. Boston. 166.
45. Quoted from letter of 21 February 1770 to John Page. Boyd, vol. 1,
pp. 34-36.
46. See second paragraph of letter of 20 February 1771 to Thomas Adams.
Boyd, vol. 1, p. 61.
47. The original 1783 catalogue and list is in the possession of the
Massachusetts Historical Society. Details concerning it are given in the
Peden dissertation, pp. 73-75.
48. This catalogue (with some changes in form which did not please
Jefferson) was printed toward the end of 1815 by Jonathan Elliott of
Washington with the title Catalogue of the Library of the United States To
Which Is Annexed, A Copious Index, Alphabetically Arranged. A full account
of the catalogue is given in the Peden dissertation, pp. 75-82; and on pages
142-155 the Peden dissertation recounts with much detail the story of the
sale of this library of Thomas Jefferson to the Federal Government. The same
story, with emphasis on the party politics involved, is narrated with gusto
by Mearns, pp. 16-25. Mearns concludes his record of the House roll call
"the purchase of Mr. Jefferson's library (however close the squeak) was
not a triumph of the children of light over the powers of darkness, but a
victory of the administration over the minority."
As to the comparative sizes of the burned and of the purchased
collections, Mearns states, on p. 15, quoting Congressional Librarian
Spofford in 1876, that the Library of Congress "amounted only to 3,000
volumes up to the year 1814"; and, on p. 19, that the Jefferson collection
was "said to contain 6,487 volumes." Some not inexpert estimates of the
value of Jefferson's collection put it at the round figure of $50,000.
Jefferson, however, accepted without demur the price, $23,950, offered by
Congress. But the Peden dissertation shrewdly notes, p. 154, that Jefferson
later referred to the transaction as "ceding" his library.
49. See letter of 10 June 1815 from Jefferson to John Adams, Lipscomb,
vol. 14, p. 301.
50. "Mrs. Battle's Opinions on Whist" is one of Charles Lamb's Essays
of Elia.
51. The sale catalogue of Jefferson's third private library was printed
by Gales and Seaton of Washington and bore the title: Catalogue. President
Jefferson's Library. A catalogue of the extensive and valuable library of
the late President Jefferson, (copied from the original MS., in his handwriting,
as arranged by himself,) to be sold at auction, at the Long Room,
Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington City, by Nathaniel P. Poor, on ...
February, 1829 ... In his brilliant essay on "Thomas Jefferson, Librarian"
in Three Americanists, Philadelphia, 1839, pp. 68-96, the late Randolph G.
Adams told of the final location of a few volumes from this dispersed collection.
52. The use of the vague expression "three or four" is a confession of
puzzlement. On page 78 of Librarian Frederick W. Page's article on "Our
Library" in the November 1895 issue of the Alumni Bulletin of the University
of Virginia, the following four titles are given of books presented by
Jefferson during his lifetime:
American Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 2, new series.
Josse's Spanish Grammar and Exercises.
Sales' Spanish Hive.
Phantasm of an University, with Prolegomena, by Charles Kelsall. 4to.
1814.
are only three titles recorded as having been given
By MR. THOMAS JEFFERSON
(Independently of a Testamentary Donation of his Library
not yet appropriated to the University.)
American Philosophical Transactions, vol. 2, new series
Josse's Spanish Grammar &Exercises
Sales, Spanish Hive, Spanish
However, on page 90 of the 1828 Catalogue, in the chapter on Architecture,
Designing, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, there is this entry, but with
Kelsall, Phantasm of a University. London, 1814.
53. Jefferson drew on many for information. His respect for the counsel
of the three who are named as examples is frequently revealed in his correspondence
with them. George Ticknor was a Professor at Harvard, whom
Jefferson and the Board of Visitors vainly tried to persuade to join the
Faculty of the University of Virginia. James Madison the Statesman and
James Madison the President of the College of William and Mary and the
first Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia were cousins.
54. This directive about works of mere amusement is a paraphrase of the
ninth of eleven general statements with which Jefferson prefaced the list
prepared for Cummings, Hilliard and Company. The title for the preface is
"An Explanation of the Views on which this Catalogue has been Prepared."
The eleventh of Jefferson's general statements is quoted in full in the paragraph
which follows in the text of this historical sketch. That it can be
quoted is a noteworthy piece of good fortune.
This extraordinary list of desirable books in all fields of learning
was evidently preserved in the Library in the Rotunda in two forms.
The first was the list with the explanatory preface, the second was a copy
of the list without the explanatory preface. (Since in the second form
there are eleven leaves left blank at the beginning, there was very possibly
the good intention of filling in the explanatory preface later.) In the
summer of 1895, seventy years after the list had been compiled by Jefferson,
the then Librarian, Frederick W. Page, prepared an article on "Our Library"
for the Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia, and in it he quoted
from a "manuscript volume" (obviously the with form) the explanatory preface
in full, in the belief that it had never before been printed.
Apparently he was correct in this belief. This article was dated 10 September
1895. But before it appeared in the November issue of the Alumni
Bulletin there occurred the disastrous burning of the Rotunda on 27 October
1895 — and by the time the Page article had emerged into print, that manuscript
volume had disappeared.
The copy of the list without the explanatory preface was, however,
among the items saved from the fire. That it was the 1825 list was clear
from the following note, dated "June 3, 1825" and signed "Th. Jefferson
Rector": "The preceeding [the spelling is of the note] catalogue is that
of the books with the purchase of which Mr. Wm. Hilliard is charged on
behalf of the University of Virginia." It was formerly conjectured that
this copy was made by Jefferson's granddaughter, Virginia Randolph. But
it now seems more likely that the handwriting is that of Nicholas P. Trist,
a youthful admirer of Jefferson (and of this granddaughter, whom he afterwards
married), who was from 1826 to 1829 Secretary of the Board of Visitors.
At any rate, by adding this explanatory preface copied in 1895, a few
weeks before the fire, to this list copied in 1825, we fortunately still
have the full text of the Jefferson document which was so notable a contribution
towards the establishment of the University of Virginia Library.
55. The importance of editions is suggested in the sixth of the general
statements in the explanatory preface to the 1825 list. It is emphasized
in the letters to Hilliard. Examples in Cometti can be found on pages 29,
31-34, 37.
56. Kimball, pp. 106-110.
57. Kimball, pp. 107, 108. Jefferson's An Essay Towards Facilitating
Instruction in the Anglo-Saxon and Modern Dialects of the English Language
was later, in 1851, printed by John F. Trow of 49 Ann Street, New York,
by order of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors.
58. The total number of titles (not volumes) in the 1825 list was 3,087.
There were 450 in law under seven headings (21-27), 389 in history under
five headings (1-5), 379 in science under seven headings (6-8, 11-13, 15),
328 in medicine under two headings (9, 10), 296 in ethics and religion
under these two headings (19, 20), 253 in belles lettres under nine headings
(31-39), 231 in geography (16), 197 in politics (28), and 178 in mathematics
under two headings (17, 18). Other headings were technical arts, 77 titles,
architecture, 45 titles, gardening, printing, sculpture, music, 21 titles,
bibliography, 21 titles, philology, 153 titles, and polygraphical, 69
titles.
59. Of the eight medical authors mentioned by Jefferson, all are represented
by writings in both this 1825 list for the Boston bookseller and in
the 1828 Catalogue, except Benjamin Rush, who is omitted in the 1825 list.
But Jefferson had four works of Rush's in his own third private library,
which he had willed to the University; and he might also have felt assured
that others would donate the writings of this well known American author.
Rush is amply represented in the Pathology and Therapeutics chapter of
the 1828 Catalogue.
Here are brief notes concerning the eight respected leaders in
medical theory who were recognized as such by the Sage of Monticello:-
Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738) was a Dutch physician and a professor
of medicine at the University of Leyden.
William Cullen (1710-1740) was a Scottish physician and a professor
of the institutes of medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
William Harvey (1578-1657), an English physician, was the discoverer
of the circulation of the blood.
Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", was a Greek who lived about
400 B.C. His name is connected with a collection of medical books and with
the Hippocratic Oath.
Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742) was a German physician and a professor
at Halle University.
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) was an American physician and a professor
at the University of Pennsylvania. He was one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and was a friend of Jefferson.
Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) was a German chemist and physician.
Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689) was an English physicist and the founder
of modern clinical medicine. He is sometimes called the English Hippocrates.
60. That the last visit to the University was in April 1826 is conjectured
from Jefferson's letter of 22 April 1826 to William Hilliard, as printed in
Cometti, p. 43. In the first paragraph of that letter Jefferson mentions
"my last, of the 9th." In the second paragraph he states "I have been to
the University since that ltr" — an abbreviation which may stand for
"letter." He goes on to mention his inspection of the boxes of books, which
61. There are several accounts, differing somewhat in details, of
Jefferson's last visit to the University. The purpose was a conference
with the youthful Librarian, William Wertenbaker, concerning the unopened
boxes of books from the Boston bookseller and other library matters.
Years later Wertenbaker wrote his story of the visit for Baldwin's Monthly,
a house organ issued by Keen, Childs and Baldwin of New Jersey, wholesale
manufacturers of ready-made clothing. This account was repeated in part
in the Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia for April 1909, pp.
204, 205. It was retold twice in reminiscences by the Librarian's son, Col.
Charles Christian Wertenbaker, in the Alumni Bulletin for May 1897, pp. 2125,
and in the Alumni News for 21 January 1914, p. 118. Prof. James A.
Harrison referred to the story in an article in the Alumni Bulletin for
May 1896, pp. 1-7. In fuller detail it was given by the ninth Librarian,
John S. Patton, in the Alumni Bulletin for October 1913, pp. 693-695, and
by Prof. Francis H. Smith in the Alumni Bulletin for April 1914, pp. 160168.
Professor Smith seems to have been in error in stating that Jefferson
was seated "at one of the upper windows of the Rotunda."
The house on the neighboring hill was Monticello. Nearly forty years
before, on 12 August 1787, Jefferson had written to George Gilmer, "all my
wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello." Cf. Ford,
vol. 5, p. 330; Lipscomb, vol. 6, p. 265; and Malone, Dumas, Jefferson and
the Rights of Men, Boston, 1951, p. 137.
| [Manuscript notes for] The University of Virginia Library, 1825-1950; | |