1822 Dec. 28 Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, to Joseph C. Cabell. ALS, 3 pp. Endorsed

In answer to the question: "If the remission of the principal debt, and an accomodation of the cost of the library cannot both be obtained, which would be the most desirable?" Jefferson tells Cabell "without any question, the latter." To secure a faculty and student body of the highest order, the University must have distinguished structures. The aim of Jefferson and the Board of Visitors "from the beginning has been to make the establishment the most eminent in the United States." The letter concludes with estimates of the cost of building the library by John M. Perry, John Gorman, James Oldham, James Dinsmore, and Arthur S. Brockenbrough.

letter