John M. Carter to Thomas Jefferson, 27 March 1815
From John M. Carter
Georgetown, D.C. March 27. 1815.—
Sir,
Without having the honor of an acquaintance with you I have presumed to obtrude myself upon your attention—in the presentation of Arator, by Col John Taylor of your State—This being the second edition of that work, the author has avowed himself, which he did not do in the first1 edition.—I have taken this liberty with you, as the publisher of Arator, merely from the Strictures contained in it, upon your “notes on Virginia,” which, coming from so distinguished a citizen as Col Taylor, I supposed you would wish to see.—From which circumstance, Sir, I trust you will not attribute to me any sort of offence, as intended.
Jno. m. Carter
RC (MHi); endorsed by TJ as received 31 Mar. 1815 and so recorded in SJL. RC (DLC); address cover only; with PoC of TJ to Albert Gallatin, 24 Apr. 1815 (second letter), on verso; addressed: “The Honorable Thos Jefferson, Monticello, Virginia”; franked; postmarked Georgetown, 29 Mar. Enclosure: John Taylor of Caroline, Arator; being a series of Agricultural Essays, Practical & Political, 2d ed. (Georgetown, 1814; , 6 [no. 255]).
John M. Carter, printer, was one of the proprietors of the semiweekly District of Columbia newspaper, The Spirit of ’Seventy-Six, 1810–14. The first of John Taylor of Caroline’s “Arator” essays appeared in that newspaper on 25 Dec. 1810. Carter published editions of Arator in Georgetown in 1813 and 1814, in Baltimore in 1817, and in Petersburg in 1818, each with additional material (, 1:94, 106; Washington Spirit of ’Seventy-Six, 18 Dec. 1810; Georgetown Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette, 17 Nov. 1813; Freda F. Stohrer, “Arator: A Publishing History,” 88 [1980]: 442–5).
On pp. 61–7 of the enclosed second edition of Arator, in essay “Number 14. Slavery, Continued,” Taylor included strictures defending the institution of slavery from the critical remarks in TJ’s Notes on the State of Virginia. The first edition of Arator (Georgetown, 1813) contained the same passage on pp. 67–74.
1. Word interlined in place of “second.”
Index Entries
- Arator; being a series of Agricultural Essays, Practical & Political (J. Taylor) search
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- Jefferson, Thomas; Books & Library; works sent to search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Writings; Notes on the State of Virginia search
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