To Thomas Jefferson from John Beckley, 6 July 1802
From John Beckley
Tuesday Morning
6th. July 1802.—
J:Beckley, with respectful compliments to Mr: Jefferson, and encloses a statement of the balance unexpended of the appropriation for books. He also sends by the servant, one copy of the Journal of H Reps:—for each Session from May 1797, to the last Session, both inclusive; And if Mr: R— comes to the City, he will, with great pleasure, afford him a full use of the Newspaper files, and other printed documents in the Library, and the office.
J:B—begs to submit to Mr: Jefferson, whether in the further catalogue of books, the past omission of the interesting works on natural history by Buffon and Catesby, the last an American, may not be supplied?
RC (CSmH); endorsed by TJ as received 6 July and “library.” Enclosure not found, but see below.
As of 30 Sep. 1802, the BALANCE UNEXPENDED from the sum appropriated for books was $2,703.05 (Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Accompanying a Report and Estimates of Appropriation for the Service of the Year 1803; Also an Account of the Receipts and Expenditures at the Treasury of the United States, for One Year Preceding the First Day of October, 1802 [Washington, D.C., 1802], 2d report, p. 21; Vol. 37:228n).
MR: R—: Caesar A. Rodney (see Rodney to TJ, 16 May; TJ to Rodney, 14 June 1802).
WORKS ON NATURAL HISTORY: probably Georges Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux and Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière and Mark Catesby’s Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (see Nos. 1021, 1024, 1027).