Below is the copy of the letter which I wrote you in feby & which, when I saw you in Phila. I promised to send you. I am Dear Sir very sincerely & respectfully yrs

     I recd last night a letter from Mr S. G. Goodrich of Hartford enclosing one from you dated the 5th inst. He requests me to give to you our views as to a disposal of the Copy right of the life of Washington, naming the price for it in case we are willing to sell & also the price per Copy for the exclusive privilege of publish<ing> the work, it being stipulated that 3000 copies at least shall <be> printed in two years.

     I recd a letter from chief Justice Marshall a a few days ago, in which he requests me to present to you in his name, a copy of his “history of the Colonies,” a compliment which he thinks due to you “on account of your great attention to the publication of the life of Washington.["] He desires me to state to you, that he has taken the precaution to take out a copy right for the book now sent you, to prevent the interference of others—not to affect you.

    I recd a letter from chief Justice Marshall dated the 12th Ulto which I have been prevented by sickness from sooner attending to— The following extract was intended for your inspection. "I have reflected a good deal on the subject of the Life, and have come to the Conclusion to seperate the introduction from the other volumes & to publish a small edition of it at my own risk, if I may be permitted to do so by Mr Wayne & yourself without being charged with the copy right.

    I lately recd a letter from the Chief Justice in relation to what he had proposed in a former letter as to the 1st volume of the life of Genl W.—namely; "that he would take the risk of that volume on himself," He thinks now that such an arrangement might produce embarrassments in the accounts which had best be avoided. He therefore proposes, instead of that plan, that the 1st volume should be printed at the risk of the editor, but that all compensation for the Copyright should be relinquished upon it.

     I am Just reminded by a second letter from Mr Mercer of New York, of one which I wrote you about a month ago respecting a second edition of the life of W— in 4 volumes which the C. Justice has ready for the press, and the proposal of Mr M. to print a second edition. I could not answer that gentleman properly without first enquiring whether you had secured the prolongation of the Copy right in the way pointed out by Law; & I also wished to know whether the first edition was disposed of.

     The 5 Copies of the life of Washin<gton> which by our last contract was to have been deliver<mutilated> I have given to five of my Nephews, and I am <mutilated> to have them bound without further loss of time. B<mutilated> as to deliver them to Mr David Caldwell, who will undertake to have the business of binding attended to.

     A Gentleman of your City leaves Alexa. tomorrow, and I shall endeavour to prevail with him to take charge of the box containing the 3d vol. of the history. Having nothing to add to my letter a few days past. I am Sincerely yrs

Your letter of the 31st. Decr. mentioning that one of the manuscript Copies has been delivered to you to [act partially] upon gives me great uneasiness. I am at a loss to account for Mr Marshall's having done so inconsiderate a thing after the letter which I wrote him upon that subject. – I was so particular in my directions to him, as to forbid the delivery of the manuscripts to you even sealed up, unless Mr Morgan consented thereto, & in case of his refusal, I requested him to deposit them so sealed with Mrs. Powel. –

     I recd a day or two ago yr favr of the 23d. Being much hurried at present, & expecting to write you a long letter as soon as I hear from Mr Marshall, I mean at present only to assure you that we have every disposition to gratify all your reasonable wishes & will do so. The moment I recieve Mr Marshalls' letter, I shall send you on every thing necessary to enable you to commence your Operations.

Duly estimating the importance of Mr Weems going off immediately to the Southward, that the opportunity might not be lost of meeting the legislatures of those states in Session, I sent for him to meet me here yesterday. To my request that he would commence his Journey immediately, he replied that he was ready at any moment and only awaited your answer to two propositions – the one, the renewal of his diurnal allowance, & the other, an agreement not to hold him responsible for broken setts.

Your favor of the 16 came to hand this evening as did also one from the Chief Justice covering the title page & preface to the history. I communicate to him by this post your sentiments respecting the proper period at which to close the 1st. vol. and also as to the name of the Author being inserted, upon both which points I entirely concur in opinion with you. I have therefore urged the necessity of adopting them. – But as he has commenced his Journey to Raleigh, my letter must follow him there, & of course I cannot expect his answer in less than 8 or 10 days.

Your letter of the inst came to hand in course of the mail, but as I had to write to Mr Marshall & to await his answer, I have not been able sooner to acknowledge it. – The complaints which you mention on account of the delay in the publication, give me great pain, particularly as it is unavoidable, and were the subscribers still more clamorous than they are, the work could not go on faster. If they had any conception of the labour & time required to examine many trunks of papers, they might perhaps be more considerate, tho' of this I should doubt.

Mr. Marshall requests that you will endeavour to procure for him from the editor of the Lancaster Journal or of the federal paper in that place the original letter from Genl Washington, which he has published.

Your letter of the 3d. inst. I have received, and hope that my acknowledgment of one or both of your former letters has reached you before this. If I have not been as punctual in answering letters for a month past as usual, the painful sickness & death of Major Blackburn to whom my whole time was devoted must be my apology.

The first vol. will be copied this month & if it were not necessary to take another copy for Mr Morgan it would be immediately sent on. I expect however that the delay from this circumstance will not be considerable. I shall write Mr Marshall upon the subject & will let you know when you may expect it. The 2d vol. Mr M. will bring with him to Washington in February.

I have Just time to acknowledge your letter of the 29th Augt. & to request that you will have the goodness to send me both vol. of Minot's hist.¹ by stage (directed to the care of Joshua Riddle Alexa) in case you should meet with some person coming on who will take charge of them. I will pay you this month when I see you in Phila.

I shall expect to hear from Mr Morgan – I thank you for the publication from the Lancaster paper & Am very sincerely yrs   

I now enclose you a certificate that you have purchased the American copy right to the life of Gen Washington, tho' with the contract in your pocket, I can hardly conceive how this can be necessary. I presume the best way will be for you to have this certificate subjoined to your proposals which are inserted in the different papers. This will be better that to let it appear as an independent thing, which would seem to imply that your right had been questioned, altho you had asserted it. 

I got here this evening, & immediately afterwards recd your note. As I am extremely impatient to pursue my Journey, I must beg the favor of you to meet me in the morning at Grays ferry, which I presume will be equally convenient to you as this place. I shall leave Frankfort in the morning about 5 O'clock, and expect to be at the ferry about 7. This will go by express car by enough to enable you to meet me by that hour. I am respectfully yrs 

I shall go from hence this afternoon if the wind permits, and in that event hope to be in Frankfort on Thursday next, where or at Bristol I shall rely upon meeting you. As it is possible I may be delayed a day on the road, on account of the wind which is now blowing too hard to permit me to cross, I have thought it best to name the earliest day. – In haste I am very respectfully yrs

I shall spend this evening at Bristol and tomorrow at Princeton. Should you receive this letter in time I hope it will be in your power to overtake me at one of those places. Should you not do so, I think you will find it proper to come on to New York, that the business in which you are engaged may be put in motion without delay. I am Very respectfully yrs.