Jefferson Letter Warning Future Presidents Lists for $285,000

A handwritten letter from Thomas Jefferson dated 1787 is on the market for $285,000, offered by the Raab Collection, a Pennsylvania-based dealer in historical documents, according to The Guardian. The asking price covers both the letter and an accompanying book Jefferson sent as a gift, described in the listing as a major European scientific work.

Jefferson wrote the letter from Paris, where he served as the fledgling US government's minister to France, to David Rittenhouse, a friend and fellow member of the American Philosophical Society. The letter had previously been on display at Texas A&M University before entering the current sale, the Guardian reported.

What does the Jefferson letter say?

In the letter, Jefferson lays out what he believed should guide the country's future leadership as the 1787 federal convention in Philadelphia — later known as the constitutional convention — debated the terms of the US Constitution. "Peace should be our plan, and the payment of our debts, improvement of our constitutions and extension of agriculture our principal objects," Jefferson wrote, according to the Guardian's review of the document.

The three-part formula — peace, debt repayment, agricultural investment — reads as a policy checklist rather than a philosophical treatise, one reason the letter has drawn attention beyond typical collectors of early American manuscripts.

How much does the letter cost, and what else is included?

The listing price and key figures tied to the sale, per the Guardian's reporting on the Raab Collection offering:

• $285,000 — guide price for the letter and accompanying book
• 1787 — year the letter was written, the same year as the constitutional convention
• Two items — the handwritten letter plus a European scientific text Jefferson sent as a gift
• One prior institutional home — Texas A&M University, where the letter was previously displayed

The Raab Collection is described in the Guardian's report as a Pennsylvania-based dealer specializing in historical artifacts and documents; no additional detail on the seller's identity was provided in that reporting.

Why is the letter being tied to Trump's second term?

The Guardian's framing connects Jefferson's three stated priorities to policy areas where President Trump, in his second term, has taken different paths. The national debt has surpassed $40tn for the first time, according to the Guardian's report, a figure the outlet places against Jefferson's call for "payment of our debts." The Guardian's report also references what it calls an unpopular war in Iran as running counter to Jefferson's call for peace as a governing plan.

Trump has cited Jefferson as a political influence and had a lifesize bronze statue of the third president installed in the White House Rose Garden in July, timed to the US semiquincentennial, per the Guardian. The juxtaposition — a sitting president honoring Jefferson in bronze while diverging from the letter's stated priorities, as characterized in the Guardian's report — is the news hook for the sale's timing.

Who was David Rittenhouse, and why did Jefferson write to him?

Rittenhouse was a member of the American Philosophical Society alongside Jefferson, and the two corresponded as scientific peers as much as political allies. Jefferson's letter arrived from Paris during his tenure as minister to France, a posting that placed him outside the Philadelphia convention room but not outside its debates, which he tracked and commented on from abroad, according to the Guardian's account of the letter's contents.

The gift of a European scientific work alongside the letter reflects that same dual identity — Jefferson corresponding with a fellow scientist even as he weighed in on constitutional and fiscal policy.

What happens to the letter next?

The letter remains listed for sale through the Raab Collection at the $285,000 guide price, per the Guardian's report. No auction date, buyer identity, or additional provenance details beyond the Texas A&M display history were included in the available reporting. The sale places a nearly 240-year-old manuscript back into private hands at a price point that reflects both its age and its renewed relevance to a current policy debate over debt, war and agricultural investment.

For readers tracking how historical documents move through the private collector market, the listing offers a data point: a founding-era letter tied to a still-debated fiscal figure — the debt payoff Jefferson urged in 1787 — commands a six-figure price nearly a quarter-millennium later.

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