The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson

"Jefferson aspired beyond the ambition of a nationality, and embraced in his view the whole future of man."--Henry Adams

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third president of the United States, left a vast literary legacy in the form of journal entries, notes, addresses, and seventy thousand letters. Jefferson remains one of the country's most extraordinary figures; as well as president he was a brilliant statesman, architect, scientist, naturalist, educator, and public servant. At a dinner for Nobel Prize recipients, John F. Kennedy said that his guests were "the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone".

This volume of his works, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden, represents many of Jefferson's most important contributions to American political thought. It includes the Autobiography, which contains the original and revised version of the Declaration of Independence; the Anas, or Notes (1791-1809); Biographical Sketches; selections from Notes on Virginia, the Travel Journals, and Essay on Anglo-Saxon; a portion of his public papers, including his first and second inaugural addresses, and over two hundred letters. The editors have provided a general introduction and introductory notes that precede the major works.


CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Autobiography
2. The Anas
3. Travel Journals
4. Essay on Anglo-Saxon
5. Biographical Sketches
6. Notes on Virginia
7. Public Papers (including "A Summary View of the Rights of British America, 1774"; "An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1779"; Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801)
8. Letters (including letters to John Harvie, John Page, James Madison, Martha Jefferson, John Adams, John Jay, Thomas Paine, Rev. James Madison, General Horatio Gates, Edward Rutledge, John Wyche, Jean Baptiste Say, Samuel Adams, and many others)