 | Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 |  |
Thomas Jefferson to John Trumbull
I always hear from you, and of you with great pleasure, and shall recieve the visit you
promise with distinguished welcome and gratification. the copies of your engraving of the
Declaration of Independance I shall be glad to recieve glazed and framed, not overloaded
with gilt, the glare of which is too much of a foil to the print.[865] a narrow slip of gilt on the
inner & outer edge of the frame, and black between them abstracts less of our attention from
it's principal, if packed in a tight box, and addressed to me, to the care of Colo. Bernard
Peyton my correspondent in Richmond, and sent thither by the Steamboat or other vessel, it
will probably come safe. of the Resignation of Genl. Washington I shall be glad to subscribe
for one copy, to be framed, glazed & forwarded in like manner. perhaps you could bring
them on with you in the stage which would be safer.[866]
Independant of the motives of friendship to which we shall owe your kind visit, I can
promise you a gratification well worth the trouble of your journey, in a visit to our
University. I can assure you that, as a specimen of architecture strictly classical, you will
find it unrivalled in this country, and possessing the merit of pure originality in the design. it
is by such as yourself therefore that I wish it to be seen and judged. the building however
which is to be it's greatest ornament, and in fact the key-stone which is to give Unity to all
that is already done, will only have it's walls compleated the present year, and will not
recieve it's roof until the next: but this your experienced eye will supply. it's Perspective
would furnish a subject worthy of your pencil and of the burin of Mr. Durand. it would be a
very popular print.[867]
My daughter joins me in the welcome of which we give you the assurance, with that of our
unchanged affections and respect
Th: Jefferson
ALS, Marietta College, Ohio: Charles Goddard Slack Collection, until sold on 16 December
1992 by Sotheby's, and now privately owned, 1p, with address and Trumbull docket; ADftS,
DLC:TJ; facsimile, Sotheby's Auction Catalog, 16 December 1992, no. 73.
865. "I can have no hesitation in placing my name on the roll of subscribers to the print of
your Declaration of Independance," wrote TJ to Trumbull on 8 January 1818, "& I desire to
do it for two copies. the advance of price from 18.66. to 20. D. cannot be objected to by any
one because of the disproportionate decrease in the value of the money" (DLC:TJ).
866. Trumbull replied to TJ on 1 October, saying that he was sending the engravings of the
Declaration of Independence by the "Sloop Virginia which sails tomorrow for Richmond . . .
framed & Glazed in the Style which you directed--Black with Gold edges. . . . I shall be
highly gratified in viewing with you the Buildings of your University, which form another
striking Evidence not merely of your Taste in Architecture, but of your untiring Zeal in the
advancement of knowledge, and the best Interests of our Country & of posterity" (DLC:TJ).
Trumbull enclosed a bill, also located in DLC:TJ, for $65.25, $40 for the two prints plus
$25.25 for framing and packing, and on 24 October TJ drafted a letter to James Madison, for
whom TJ intended one of the engravings, informing him that the prints had arrived safely at
Monticello.
867. The catalog says: "The engraver Asher B. Durand never undertook a print of the
university, although he did produce a line engraving of Monticello (Stauffer 680). His
engraving of Trumbull's Declaration of Independence (Stauffer 679) made his reputation,
but the edition proved financially disastrous for Trumbull."
| Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University
of Virginia, 1817-1828 | |