458 AKNTUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



in it; auother enquiring whether a paper given to the Philosophical Society 

 there, as a rough draught of that Declaration was genuinely so. A society 

 is formed there lately for an annual celebration of the advent of Penn to that 

 place. It was held in his ancient mansion, and the chair in which he actually 

 sate when at his writing table was presented by the lady owning it, and it was 

 occupied by the president of the celebration. Two other chairs were given them 

 made of the elm under the shade of which Penn had made his first treaty with 

 the Indians. If these things acquire a superstitious value because of their 

 connection with particular persons, surely a connection with the greater Charter 

 of our Independence may give a value to what has been associated with that; 

 and such was the idea of the enquirers after the room in which it was written. 

 Now I happen still to possess the writing box on which it was written. It 

 was made from a drawing of my own by Ben Randall, a cabinet-maker in whose 

 house I took my first lodgings on my arrival in Philadelphia in May, 1777,* and I 

 have used it ever since. It claims no merit of particular beauty. It is plain, 

 neat, convenient, and, asking no more room on the writing table than a moderate 

 4to volume, it yet displays itself sufficiently for any writing. Mr. Coolidge 

 must do me the favor of accepting this. Its imaginary value will increase with 

 years, and if he lives to my age, or another half-century, he may see it carried 

 in the procession of our nation's birthday, as the relics of the Saints are in 

 those of the Church. I will send it thro' Col. Peyton, and hope with better 

 fortune than that for which it is to be the substitute. . . . 



And on the desk itself, under the writing board, Jefferson affixed 

 the following affidavit in his own handwriting : 



Th. Jefferson gives this Writing Desk to Joseph Coolidge, junr. as a memorial 

 of affection. It was made from a drawing of his own, by Ben Randall, cabinet 

 maker of Philadelphia, with whom he first lodged on his arrival in that city in 

 May, 1776 and is the identical one on which he wrote the Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence. Politics as well as Religion has its superstitions, these, gaining 

 strength with time, may, one day, give imaginary value to this relic, for its asso- 

 ciation with the birth of the Great Charter of our Independence, Monticello. 

 Nov. 18, 1825. 



The desk arrived in Boston safely, and Joseph Coolidge, Jr., ac- 

 knowledged its receipt as follows on February 27, 1826: 



I have deferred too long to mention the valued Memorial which you sent me : 

 several times, however, have I written to thank you for "the Desk," and as often 

 destroyed my letter least that, which was but the sincere expression of gratified 

 feeling, should seem to you like exaggeration : but I was truly sensible of the 

 kindness of the gift, and the compliment it conveyed : the desk arrived safely, 

 furnished with a precious document which adds very greatly to its value; for 

 the same hand which, half a century ago, traced upon it the words which have 

 gone abroad upon the earth, now attests its authenticity, and consignes it to 

 myself. When I think of this desk, "in connection with the great charter of our 

 independence," I feel a sentiment almost of awe, and approach it with respect ; 

 but when I remember that it has served you fifty years, been the faithful deposi- 

 tory of your cherished thoughts ; that upon it have been written your letters 

 to illustrious and excellent men, your plans for the advancement of civil and 

 religious liberty, and of Art and Science ; that it has, in fact, been the companion, 



* Note the mistake Jefferson made in the date here. He gives the correct date in the 

 manuscript note attached to the desk. Also, after a lapse of some years, Jefferson here 

 refers to the cabinetmalcer as Randall instead of Randolph. 



