LETTERS OF OHN pAe. PRINTED FROM THE UNPUBLISHED ORIGINALS IN MR.
W. K. BIXBYS COLLECTION INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY GENERAL HORACE
PORTER AND FRANKLIN B. SANBORN BOSTON MDCCCCV PRINTED EXCLUSIVELY
FOR MEMBERS OF THE BIBLIOPHILE SOCIETY Copyright, 1905, by THE
BIBLIOPHILE SOCIETY All rights reserved IT is due to the generosity
of Mr. W. K. Bixby that The Bibliophile Society is permitted to
issue for its members this little volume of letters written by John
Paul Jones while in our countrys service during the American
Revolution. The original letters, which are now almost priceless
relics of that period, form a part of Mr. Bixbys private
collection. The entire cost of issuing this volume one copy of
which is printed for each member has been paid from the surplus
fund in the Societys treasury re maining over from last year. There
is, therefore, no charge for the work. The grateful acknowledgments
of the Council are due to General Porter and Mr. Sanborn for their
introductory remarks, which are free-will contribu tions. HUNT
L1BRARY C - MU THE FOLLOWING NOTE WAS WRITTEN BY GENERAL HORACE
PORTER, FORMERLY AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE, ESPECIALLY FOR THIS
VOLUME OF LET TERS OF JOHN PAUL JONES JOHN PAUL JONESS life was an
open book. It contained no sealed chapters. If the his torical
facts related of him were entirely destroyed, nearly all the events
of his ex traordinary career would be found recorded in his
letters, diaries, and memoranda. He was one of the most prolific
writers of the Revolutionary period, rivaling even Wash ington
himself in that respect. When we reflect that in that age one could
not com mand the services of stenographers and typewriters, we
realize the prodigious laborinvolved in such a voluminous mass of
cor respondence. In the case of Paul Jones, he did not confine his
writings to his native lan guage, but employed also those of other
7 countries. He possessed in a high degree the gift of acquiring
foreign tongues. He spoke French and Spanish, and while there is no
authentic proof as to how well he wrote the latter, we know that
much of his cor respondence was conducted in very good French.
While he wrote that language in a somewhat labored manner and made
at times one or two drafts, with corrections, of an important
communication before he prepared the final copy, he expressed his
thoughts correctly and felt quite sure of himself in writing as
well as in speaking that tongue. His style was elaborate and the
sentences were carefully rounded, which gave his writ ten documents
the appearance of having been well studied. This, however, was char
acteristic of most public men at that time, and in the case of Paul
Jones it was probably emphasized by the fact that his style was
influenced, perhaps unconsciously, by the genius of the French
language, which often requires elaborated sentences and para
phrases to express an idea with proper dig nity and elegance. 8 The
publication at this time of this volume of letters two of which are
given in fac simile cannot fail to be of absorbing in terest, as
they present, in a graphic and pe culiarly attractive form,
communications of rare historic value, and at the same time ex
hibit those distinctive traits of the man, to which the handwriting
is often the clearest attestation. HORACE PORTER THE extraordinary
career of John Paul Jones has been the occasion of so many
biographies, the theme of so many novels, fromFenimore Cooper and
Allan Cunning ham to Winston Churchill and Miss Jewett, that his
name is now better known than that of any other American naval
hero. Not so well known, probably, is his untiring indus try as a
letter-writer, and his proclivity to quarrels though these traits
are sometimes dwelt on to his disparagement by his biog raphers...
General
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