[JEFFERSON, Thomas (1743-1826), inscribed book.] LEMOINE D’ESSOIES, E.M.J. Traité élémentaire de mathématiques. Paris: 1789.

Mathematical textbook inscribed by Thomas Jefferson for James Madison: an extraordinary artefact linking two founding fathers and future U.S. Presidents.

At this time, Jefferson was serving as U.S. Minister in Paris, observing the first upheavals of the French Revolution while continuing his steady habit of acquiring books for friends at home. Madison, meanwhile, was in New York City at the center of the new federal government, helping shape the First Congress and drafting the Bill of Rights. Their transatlantic correspondence remained constant, and books like this one formed part of their ongoing, polymathic exchange. Jefferson has inscribed and initialed the front flyleaf in pencil: “for Mr. Madison from Th. J.”

In a letter dated 17 September 1789, Jefferson wrote to Madison from Paris: “I have sent to Havre the following packages, with directions to send them by the first vessel to New York to your address… a box of books… I believe the whole are for you; tho’ should it be otherwise the person’s name will always be found written on or in the book.” For Jefferson’s abbreviated signature “Th. J,” see his letter to Madison of 15 December 1790, headed with the exact phrase “For Mr. Madison from Th. J.”—more a direction for delivery than a formal presentation inscription.

Octavo (197 x 122mm). Half-title present. 16 engraved folding mathematical plates at end. Contemporary French calf, spine gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers (spine dry, joints and corners chipped). Provenance: Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, to: – James Madison, 1751-1836 (gift inscription).