A somewhat belated response to an inquiry by Phil Schwarz and Bill Trout about the vandalization of Thomas Jefferson's papers in 1809 when they were being shipping up the James to Monticello after his presidency ended, resulting in the loss of most of his collection of Indian vocabularies. Mr. Trout cites Dumas Malone, Sage of Monticello, p. 5, and asks what else has been published on this unfortunate occurrence. Schwarz adds a reference to his commentary in his Slave Laws in Virginia, 47-49. Interested readers should also see the Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, volume 1 (2004), in which most of the pertinent documents were printed. See especially Samuel J. Harrison to Gibson & Jefferson, 16 July 1809 (pp. 346-8), which provides a full description of the incident, but also pp. 153-4, 180-1, 186, 204, 257, 268, 311, 483.
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J. Jefferson Looney
Editor
The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series
Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Post Office Box 316
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
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http://www.monticello.org/papers
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