Auction Date:2011 Aug 10 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS as president signed “Th: Jefferson,” one page, 8 x 9.75, February 18, 1804. Jefferson writes to Dr. Casper Wistar, in full: “Having recieved [sic] the inclosed [sic] essay on public education from it’s [sic] author, the revd Mr. Knox, &, as I presume with a view that it should be communicated to the Philosophical society, I take the liberty of putting it under cover to you for that purpose, and to present you my salutations & respect.” In very good condition, with a couple trivial pinholes of paper loss along intersecting folds, one of the three vertical folds passing through the first letter of the signature, scattered light foxing and toning, light brushing to a couple words of text, and some scattered wrinkling and creasing. All writing is clear and bold.
This letter’s recipient was the author of the first American textbook of anatomy and at the time was serving as vice president of the American Philosophical Society (APS)—an organization that Jefferson led. The familiarity evident in the letter stems from Jefferson and Wistar, at the time a University of Pennsylvania anatomy instructor, being longtime friends who had worked together on the collection and identification of the bones of an extinct genus of giant ground sloths, called the megalonyx, as well as on several other scientific projects.
Jefferson’s reference to the “essay on public education from...the revd Mr. Knox” refers to a work by Presbyterian clergyman Samuel Knox of Baltimore. Knox had maintained that public schools should bring children of different social backgrounds together to promote social unity through a bond of personal friendship. The nation’s third president consistently emphasized the importance of education in any democratic society, which would enable the common man to elect wise and virtuous leaders. His strong belief is clearly present here in this brief yet important letter.
Auction Location:
5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
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