"The European method of Bridge architecture, by piers and arches, is not adapted to the condition of many of the Rivers in America on account of the Ice in the winter." Letter to Benjamin Franklin, 6 June 1786.

Blizzard '26 deserves a Paine quote, no? "The present winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake of the misfortune."

Paine died in 1809, never having published his own works, despite thinking and writing about his intentions to do so for 30 years.

Paine's last words on his own edition, from 1807: "I intend publishing all my works, and those I have yet in manuscript, by subscription. They will make 4 or 5 Vol. [quarto] or 5 Vol. [octavo], about 400 pages each"

Again, from the same 1805 letter to Jefferson: "I shall also make a miscellaneous Volume of Correspondence, Essays, and some pieces of Poetry which I believe will have some claim to originality."

From the same letter: "The three first volumes will be political and each piece will be accompanied with an account of the state of affairs at the time it was written. The two last Volumes will be theological and those who do not chuse to take them may let them alone."

Paine, in 1805, again to Thomas Jefferson: "I judge the Collection I speak of will make five volumes Octavo of four hundred pages each at two dollars a Volume to be paid for on delivery; and as they will be delivered separately... the subscribers may stop when they please.

Paine, writing to NYC mayor Dewitt Clinton (1769-1828) in 1804: I intend to make a collection of all my works and publish them by subscription together with what I have by me in manuscript, and unite them with a history of the times in which they were written."

Paine returns to the topic of his works in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on 23 September 1803: "I had intended... to make a collection, as authors say, of my works, which with what I have in manuscript will make four, or five octavo Volumes, and publish them by subscription."

While in France, in 1797, Paine writes to fellow deist John Fellows, who had asked Paine about an edited collection of his works: "You ask me... for a list of my several works, in order to publish a collection of them. This is an undertaking I have always reserved for myself."

Paine doesn't mention collecting his own works for nearly twenty years. He turns his attention to strengthening the institutions of a new America, bridge building, supporting revolution in France, and planning revolution in England and Ireland.

In a letter to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania later in October 1779, Paine repeats his stated wish to "intend collecting my several pieces, beginning with Common Sense, into two volumes and publishing them by Subscription with notes."

Paine first mentions a "collected works" in a 14 September 1779 letter to Henry Laurens (1724-1792): "I intend this winter to collect all my Publications, beginning with Common Sense and ending with the Fisheries, and publishing them in two Volumes, Octavo, with notes."

A brief history of Thomas Paine writing about editions of his own works is about to begin...

Thank you to the TPHA (@[email protected]) for sponsoring our edition! A wonderful way to continue the legacy of the TPHA greats such as William van der Weyde and Thomas Edison!

The three nations where Paine lived and had his greatest impact are represented by the editorial board: America, France, and England.

The Thomas Paine: Collected Writings editing team includes editor-in-chief Gregory Claeys, senior editors Marc Belissa, Gary Berton, and Scott Cleary, and editors Yannick Bosc and Carine Lounissi. All notable, published Paine scholars.

Later this year, Princeton University Press (@princetonupress.bsky.social) will publish the six-volume Thomas Paine: Collected Works. A new, scholarly edition of Thomas Paine's works and correspondence. The most exciting event in Paine scholarship in the last century!