Important unsigned document in Jefferson’s hand, one page, 7.75 x 10, dated in another hand on the reverse August 31, 1790. A detailed listing of personal possessions, including furniture, household items, and quantities of food. The list reads, in full: 1. Paper press 2. Pembroke tables 3. Press under part 4. [Press] upper part 5. Side board 6. Dining tables 7. Chair 8. Working table [The above items also include dimensions and cubic volume] 9. Cash of coffee containing about 100 lb. 10. Box earthen ware some chine [sic], candlesticks Four barrels/one box containing 58 bacon hams A hogshead, about a gross of empty bottles, 10 bottles cyder Handirons &c Mattresses Servants bedsteads Kitchen tables 5 pr. simple chairs, mahogany in mats[?] 6 arm chairs d[itt]o. 1 green stool 30 green chairs & 1 green stool Two boxes of Mr. Madison’s As the 1790 ink date noted above appears to be contemporaneous, the inventory may well relate to Jefferson taking office as America’s first Secretary of State on March 21 of that year—a post that required his presence New York City, then the seat of federal government. Because of a housing shortage, Jefferson first took up residence at the City Tavern on Broadway; by that summer, he found a house at 57 Maiden Lane. Though his New York residence must have seemed modest by the standards of his beloved Monticello, Jefferson’s position, wide personal circle, and the social milieu of America’s largest city would have inevitably required him to entertain and serve as host on a regular basis. Failing to find a larger house, Jefferson soon undertook renovations at his Maiden Lane rental with the primary aim of creating more space. Intriguingly, a letter to his daughter from April 4 of the same year mentions his attempt to find a “better” home “before the arrival of my furniture.” Given the comfortable style to which Jefferson was accustomed, it seems entirely plausible that such an extensive list of fine furnishings and grocery staples—carefully measured for volume—indicated plans for a large-scale shipment of necessities from Monticello. In any event, Jefferson did host at least one gathering of lasting importance at his Maiden Lane home—the famous “Dinner Table Bargain,” including himself, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, that led to the federal government’s assumption of the states’ Revolutionary War debts and the selection of Washington, D.C. as the young nation’s new capital. This detailing of personal possessions from perhaps the most influential of America’s founding fathers may well prove to be a virtual Rosetta Stone in tracing and authenticating the surviving Jefferson relics that now reside at Monticello and in museums and collections across the country. In fine condition, with pinhole to top margin, and very faint “ghosting” from another page, and neat archival reinforcement to folds on reverse, otherwise fine, bright, crisp condition. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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