Over 200 years ago Thomas Jefferson could probably not have imagined that a letter he wrote reporting on the Lewis and Clark expedition would wind up in an auction house in a place he only dreamed of, California. The Nate D. Sanders Auction house in Santa Monica, California is selling off a letter Jefferson wrote in 1805 to William Jarvis, the American consul in Lisbon, Portugal. In the letter, Jefferson reports on Captain Meriwether Lewis's work exploring the Missouri river while looking for the most effective water passage to the South Sea. Jefferson had hoped that Lewis and Clark would find a water route that would be easily accessible to the Pacific Ocean.
There are several of these types of letters in existence. In 2003, Jefferson’s written account to a French geologist on Lewis & Clark’s missions sold for $1.4 million. Auction house owner Nate Sanders noted the scarcity of Jefferson’s letter saying that: “Thomas Jefferson letters on the Lewis & Clark expedition are extremely rare and are in high demand as people are fascinated by their explorations of the Louisiana Purchase territories.”
The letter also gives insight into Jefferson's state of mind in regards to the politics of the time. Speaking about Portugal he says: "It gives me much pleasure to see a hope that Portugal may be able to preserve her neutrality. That a government so just & inoffensive should be forced into a war with which it has nothing to do shows the most profligate disregard to human rights. It is a great felicity to us and it secures all our other felicities, that so wide an ocean is spread between us & the lions & tygers of Europe, as enables us to go forward in the path of justice and independence fearing nothing but our creator. The great powers of Europe could do us injury by sea & on our shores. But the spirit of independence in the country at large they can never bend."
The auction ends Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 5 pm Pacific Daylight Savings Time. The bidding is already up over $13,000. Additional information on Jefferson’s letter can be found at the Nate D. Sanders website.
UPDATE: This letter sold for $226,870 including a 20% buyer's premium.
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