SIR，——YourletterofJuly29thcametohandsometimesince，butIhavenotsoonerbeenabletoacknowledgeit。Inanswertoyourpropositionforpublishingacompleteeditionofmydifferentwritings，Imustobservethatnowritingsofmine，otherthanthosemerelyofficial，havebeenpublished，excepttheNotesonVirginiaandasmallpamphletunderthetitleofaSummaryViewoftherightsofBritishAmerica。TheNotesonVirginia，Ihavealwaysintendedtoreviseandenlarge，andhave，fromtimetotime，laidbymaterialsforthatpurpose。Itwillbelongyetbeforeotheroccupationswillpermitmetodigestthem，andobservationsandinquiriesarestilltobemade，whichwillbemorecorrectinproportiontothelengthoftimetheyarecontinued。Itisnotunlikelythatthismaybethroughmylife。Icouldnot，therefore，atpresent，offeranythingnewforthatwork。
TheSummaryViewwasnotwrittenforpublication。ItwasadraughtIhadpreparedforapetitiontotheking，whichImeanttoproposeinmyplaceasamemberoftheconventionof1774。Beingstoppedontheroadbysickness，IsentitontotheSpeaker，wholaiditonthetablefortheperusalofthemembers。Itwasthoughttoostrongforthetimes，andtobecometheactoftheconvention，butwasprintedbysubscriptionofthemembers，withashortprefacewrittenbyoneofthem。Ifithadanymerit，itwasthatoffirsttakingourtrueground，andthatwhichwasafterwardsassumedandmaintained。
IdonotmentiontheParliamentaryManual，publishedfortheuseoftheSenateoftheUnitedStates，becauseitwasamerecompilation，intowhichnothingenteredofmyownbutthearrangement，andafewobservationsnecessarytoexplainthatandsomeofthecases。
Idonotknowwhetheryourviewextendstoofficialpapersofminewhichhavebeenpublished。Manyofthesewouldbelikeoldnewspapers，materialsforfuturehistorians，butnolongerinterestingtothereadersoftheday。Theywouldconsistofreports，correspondences，messages，answerstoaddresses；afewofmyreportswhileSecretaryofState，mightperhapsbereadbysomeasessaysonabstractsubjects。Suchasthereportonmeasures，weightsandcoins，onthemint，onthefisheries，oncommerce，ontheuseofdistilledsea-water，&c。ThecorrespondenceswiththeBritishandFrenchministers，HammondandGenet，werepublishedbyCongress。ThemessagestoCongress，whichmighthavebeeninterestingatthemoment，wouldscarcelybereadasecondtime，andanswerstoaddressesarehardlyreadafirsttime。
Sothatonareviewofthesevariousmaterials，Iseenothingencouragingaprintertoare-publicationofthem。TheywouldprobablybeboughtbythoseonlywhoareinthehabitofpreservingStatepapers，andwhoarenotmany。