Virginia Magazine of History and Biography
Volume 112 / Number 2
ABSTRACT:
Unraveling the Strange History of Jefferson's Observations sur la Virginie
- Gordon S. Barker, pp. 134–77
Revisiting events in Paris in the 1780s, this essay challenges usual interpretations of Observations sur la Virginie
as a botched, unwanted, and poorly received edition of Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia. Focusing on
the review of Observations that appeared in the Mercure de France, the author argues that the French edition
was well received and regarded as work that not only advanced knowledge but also could serve as a model
for the discussion of ways to improve conditions in Europe. Evidence suggests that Abbé Morellet's
restructuring of Observations reflected Enlightenment influences and had Jefferson's approval. The
author describes relationships very different from those depicted by most scholars between the
Virginian and both Morellet and Barrois, the disreputable publisher who supposedly pirated
Jefferson's Notes. Reviewing Jefferson's correspondence and actions, the author argues
that the philosopher-statesman, encouraged by the reception of the Pierres edition he had
printed in 1785 for private circulation, sought to participate in the cosmopolitan Republic
of Letters that had emerged in eighteenth-century France. Regarding French as the
language of the Enlightenment, the author demonstrates that Jefferson actually sought
to hurry the printing of Observations and delayed the publication of his Notes in English.
He asserts that Jefferson experienced tensions, notably with regard to the issue of slavery,
between his participation in the Republic of Letters and his citizenship in the American
republic that he loved and helped create. He suggests that Jefferson's divided loyalties
and changing perception of print culture explain the strange tale of Observations as
a pirated publication.
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