A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States
by Thomas Jefferson
| Jefferson's Manual | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
||
| Author | Thomas Jefferson | |
| Published | Washington City: Samuel Harrison Smith | |
| Date | 1801 | |
| Language | English | |
As Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson served as President of the Senate from 1797 to 1801. During that time, he worked on a manual of parliamentary procedure, based on notes formed while he was a student at the College of William & Mary. He also wrote to his old professor, George Wythe, for advice. Wythe, in his mid-70s, at first declined, but later sent his notes. Jefferson's manual was published in 1801.
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Parliamentary Manual. 12mo.'" and given by Thomas Jefferson to his son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph. Later appears on Randolph's 1832 estate inventory as "Jefferson's Manual' ($1.00 value)." Both George Wythe's Library[1] on LibraryThing and the Brown Bibliography[2] include the 1801 edition of A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States.
Letters between Jefferson and Wythe also discuss the publication. Jefferson first requests Wythe's aid in a letter dated February 28, 1800. He follows up this request in an April 7, 1800 letter to which Wythe responds on April 10 citing a faulty memory for his inability to help. He then writes Jefferson on April 23, 1800, "Whenever that εγχειριδιον περι την σνμβουλην νομοθετικην [Manual of Legislative Counsel], which thou art preparing shall be published, as I anxiously hope it will be, reserve two or three copies for me."[3]
As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to find a copy of Jefferson's 1801 Manual.
See also
- An Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of the Logan Family
- Jefferson Inventory
- Notes on the State of Virginia
- Thomas Jefferson
- Wythe's Library
- Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 23 April 1800
References
- ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on August 8, 2023.
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
- ↑ Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 23 April 1800, Library of Congress, The Thomas Jefferson Papers.
External Links
- Read this book in Google Books.
- View Jefferson's copy at the Library of Congress.
