From the outside, Bertram & Williams Books and Fine Art is an unassuming storefront on Richmond Road. Inside, visitors are greeted with shelf after shelf of titles, with nearly every surface covered in stacks of pages bound by shining lettering.
A glass cabinet toward the back of the store bears the label “Virginia Showcase.” In it lies a collection of four books written by or related to the life of Thomas Jefferson. First or second editions, all are well over 150 years old, and two were published during the former president’s lifetime.
Tennyson Williams, a co-owner of Bertram & Williams, said it is not often one can find a collection of Jefferson titles this old.
Two of the books are different editions of “Notes on the State of Virginia,” written by the William & Mary graduate in 1781, the year after he finished his only term as governor of Virginia. Structured by “queries” about geography, resources and society of the Commonwealth, the book was first published in Paris in French in 1782. An English edition from London followed in 1787, with the first American edition coming one year later out of Philadelphia.
One of Bertram & Williams’ copies of “Notes on the State of Virginia” is from Philadelphia, but is a second edition printed in 1794. It once contained a map of Virginia, adapted by Jefferson from the Fry-Jefferson map – by his father Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry, an influential map of the state – but it went missing before Williams acquired the book.
“My best guess is that someone took it out to frame it,” he said.
Or, a map seller could have taken that piece. It is worth more than the book, which Williams has priced at $1,500.
The other edition, printed in Baltimore in 1800, never had a map. Williams said having different publishers across American cities was not unusual for the time period. Multiple American editions came out of different places, some with maps and others without.
Because the Baltimore edition at Bertram & Williams is complete, and in better shape than the Philadelphia copy, it’s selling for $500 more despite a later print date.
Both books contain tables on Virginia’s products and birds, and a foldout chart detailing the Native American population. From repeated use and delicate paper, that piece is broken at the fold in the Philadelphia edition.
Along with condition, Williams researched these books and their histories to determine a value, based in part on what others are going for around the country.
“It’s much easier now than it used to be,” he said. Using the Internet, he can see what prices sellers post in online marketplaces, as well as easily access public auction records. The more expensive he perceives an item to be, the more time he spends on the research.
A former educator with more than 25 years in the book business, Williams said he most enjoys the treasure hunt of collecting and studying books.
Through this search, he has determined the Jefferson books in his store’s collection are what he calls “scarce,” not rare. That means they are not common, but not at the nearly-impossible-to-find level of a rare book.
The two copies of “Notes on the State of Virginia” are housed with “Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson,” an 1830 second edition four-volume set edited by Jefferson’s oldest grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. To complete the set is “The Life of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration and third President of the United States.” That biography by William Linn is a first edition from 1834.
While it is possible that Jefferson touched one of “Notes on the State of Virginia,” they were not found in his library, and Williams admits it is unlikely. The other two titles were published after his death in 1826.
All four of the Jefferson books have been at Bertram & Williams for a year or less.
Williams purchased the lot from various people. As his business has become more established, he spends less time scouring estate sales, and instead buys from independent people who peruse those and other functions for valuable books.
“I don’t have to go out hunting for them so much—they come to us,” Williams said.
He expects the books will find their next home with an “at least semi-serious collector.” Given that later, cheaper reprints are available – the papers of Jefferson and his biography are priced at $1,100 and $475 respectively – these are not intended for the casual reader, but for a fan of bygone presidents and timeworn pages.
To learn more, call Bertram & Williams at 564-9670.
