THERE are no established editions of Paine’s work. Most of the pamphlets he wrote went through numerous reprintings, and it is impossible to tell which Paine regarded as authoritative. However, Paine did not change his writings significantly after publication, save for the addition of further Prefaces and Introductions. Accordingly, the earliest available edition of each text has been used, supplemented by the correction of typographical misprints and the addition of later Prefaces, Introductions, and Appendices. Double quotation marks have been changed to single, and full points removed from Dr, Mr, and St. With these exceptions, the variations and inconsistencies in the spelling and punctuation of the original have been preserved. Where Paine refers in the text to pages in the original edition these page numbers have been changed to refer to the present edition.
Paine’s Letter to Jefferson is transcribed from the manuscript held in the Library of Congress.
Numbered footnotes are Paine’s original notes; an asterisk signals an explanatory note to be found at the end of the volume.