AMERICANA 54 60(JEFFERSON, Thomas) DAUBENTON, Louis-Jean-Marie. Advice to Shepherds and Owners of Flocks. Boston, 1811. Slim octavo, contemporary full mottled brown calf gilt. $78,000 An Exceptional American Rarity—Jefferson’s Personal Copy Of Advice To Shepherds And Owners Of Flocks, 1811, With His Initialed Ownership Marking Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of this guide to sheep farming, containing Jefferson’s characteristic and distinctive ownership mark, presented to Jefferson by the widow of the book’s translator, James Bowdoin, Jefferson’s minister to Spain, with the inscription: “President Jefferson with Mrs Bowdoin’s respectful compliments. 24 May 1812.” This volume was in Jefferson’s final “Retirement Library” when he died, and it contains Jefferson’s characteristic ownership identification marks—he has penned a “T” before the “1” denoting the first numbered signature. Jefferson habitually penned a “T” before the “I” signature mark and a “J” after the “T” signature marks in his books; in his volume, with the letter “J” not being used in its signature markings, the number “1” provided Jefferson a workable substitute for “I” in a book without lettered signatures. Jefferson built three collections of books in his lifetime. The first burned in a fire at his childhood home, Shadwell, in 1770. In 1815, Jefferson sold his second collection of books to the government to help rebuild the collection of the Library of Congress, destroyed in 1814 when the British burned Washington during the War of 1812. The third collection was dispersed after Jefferson’s death in 1826, largely through auction to satisfy creditors. This copy was listed in Jefferson’s
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