The Dictionary of Virginia Biography is published online through a partnership with Encyclopedia Virginia. Biographies that do not also appear in the three print volumes (surnames Aaroe�Daniels) link to lists of sources consulted.
Sources consulted for the biography of:Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
Recommended Published Biographies
- Dumas Malone, Jefferson and his Time, 6 vols. (1948–1981).
- Merrill D. Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography (1970).
- Norman K. Risjord, Thomas Jefferson (1994).
- R. B. Bernstein, Thomas Jefferson (2003).
- Kevin J. Hayes, The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson (2008).
- Jon Meacham, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012).
- Contemporary likenesses in Alfred L. Bush, The Life Portraits of Thomas Jefferson (1962; rev. ed., 1987).
Primary Sources
The largest collections of Jefferson manuscripts are in:
- Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
- Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Mass.
- Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
- National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
- Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, Calif.
- Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis, Mo.
- Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
- American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Penn.
- Executive Papers of Thomas Jefferson (1779–1781), Accession 44393, Library of Virginia.
Definitive published editions of Jefferson manuscripts:
- Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (1950– ). For a digital edition, see the American Founding Era Collection of the University of Virginia Press and the Founders Online portal of the National Archives.
- J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series (2004– ). For a digital edition, see the American Founding Era Collection of the University of Virginia Press and the Founders Online portal of the National Archives.
- The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Second Series consisting of:
- Dickinson W. Adams and Ruth W. Lester, eds., Jefferson's Extracts from the Gospels (1983).
- Wilbur Samuel Howell, ed., Jefferson's Parliamentary Writings (1988).
- Douglas L. Wilson, ed., Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book (1989).
- James A. Bear Jr. and Lucia C. Stanton, eds., Jefferson's Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767–1826, 2 vols. (1997).
Other valuable published Jefferson editions include:
- Thomas Jefferson Architect: Original Designs in the Collection of Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Junior with an Essay and Notes by Fiske Kimball (1916), which contains facsimiles of the architectural drawings.
- Edwin Morris Betts, ed., Thomas Jefferson's Garden Book, 1766–1824 (1944).
- Edwin Morris Betts, ed., Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book (1953).
- Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, ed. William Peden (1955).
- Lester J. Cappon, ed., The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams, 2 vols. (1959).
- Extended legal argument by Jefferson in Bernard Schwartz with Barbara Wilcie Kern and R. B. Bernstein, eds., Th: Jefferson and Bolling v. Bolling: Law and the Legal Profession in Pre-Revolutionary America (1997).
- "Jefferson Quotes and Family Letters," online resource contains numerous descriptions of Jefferson and his activities by his relatives.
Quotations
- "chosen people of God…" in Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, ed. William Peden (1955), 165.
- "my first wish…" in Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (1950– ), 23:435–436.
- "honorable and easy" in Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (1950– ), 29:362
- "unbridled madness" in J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series (2004– ), 12:246
- "we are all republicans…" in Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (1950– ), 33:149.
- "distressing burthen of power" in J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series (2004– ), 1:103.
- "a bantling of 40. years…" in J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series (2004– ), 12:263.
- "wolf by the ear" and "fire bell in the night" in Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, April 22, 1820, Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series I: General Correspondence (1651–1827), Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
- "If Jefferson was wrong…" in James Parton, Life of Thomas Jefferson: Third President of the United States (1874), iii.
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