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Jefferson Library Collections
The Jefferson Library is a gateway to information on Thomas Jefferson and his life, times, and legacy. To this end, the Library collects a wide variety of materials, including books, journals and journal articles, Web sites, microforms, videos and DVDs, photographs, maps, and memorabilia. The scope of the collection encompasses any and all subjects relevant to Thomas Jefferson, including such topics as colonial history, Virginia history, government, diplomacy, wine, archaeology, natural history, architecture, literature, French cuisine, slavery, natural rights, the University of Virginia, gardening, and science. The Library also has an extensive collection of literature on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, courtesy of a gift from Mr. Ron Laycock. The Jefferson Library collection includes materials for adults as well as children and young adults, and everything from scholarly articles to bestselling works of fiction and nonfiction to pop-up books.
Book Collection
The Jefferson Library has over 5,000 titles, and another 5,000 in departmental libraries throughout the Foundation. These libraries include Archaeology, the Center for Historic Plants, Curatorial, Education, Guides, and the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Kenwood.
Gift and Donation Policies
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the Library Collection
Serials Collection
The library currently subscribes to approximately three dozen journals and newsletters in the fields of early American history, Virginia, and local history.
Click here to see a list of our serials
holdings.
Microfilm Collection
The collection of about 400 reels consists mostly of the papers
of Thomas Jefferson from the Library of Congress, Massachusetts
Historical Society, University of Virginia, Henry E. Huntington
Library, Missouri Historical Society, New York Historical Society,
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Colonial Williamsburg, and
the American Philosophical Society. The Rice Papers are also available
on microfilm, as well as several newspaper runs from the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Audio and Video Collection
The Jefferson Library has over a thousand videos, DVDs, audio
CDs and audio cassettes. These include both commercially-produced
documentaries and Foundation-produced materials such as lectures
and interviews.
Research Collection
Vertical Files
The Library's Information Files collection consists of 16 file drawers that contain over 4500 folders of unpublished and published information on topics related to Jefferson, divided into Subjects, People, and Places. The finding aid for this collection can be viewed online as a PDF by clicking here.
The Library also maintains 16 file drawers of articles relating to Jefferson, organized alphabetically by author's last name.
Additionally, the Library has 4 file drawers of photocopied primary documents relating to Jefferson such as his Case and Account Books, Edmund Bacon's correspondence, and some family letters.
Research Reports
The Library has over 300 unpublished documents compiled by Foundation
staff, interns, and other researchers dealing with Jefferson,
Monticello, and period history. Some unique items include Archaeology
Reports, The Joinery at Jefferson's Monticello, Jefferson's
Journey to Washington, November 1800, and Chronologies
of the Whereabouts of Martha Jefferson, 1784-1809, Mary Jefferson,
1784-1809, Thomas Jefferson, 1767-1826. Research Reports can
be searched using the Thomas
Jefferson Portal.
Special Collections
Books
There are over 1300 books in our Special Collections dealing
with Jefferson, his writings, his contemporaries, and area history,
including the Howard C. Rice Collection of over 450 books and
60 binders on 18th-century France and on Americans who lived there.
A few titles in our Special Collections include Jefferson's
Writings (1830) edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's
Works (1857) edited by H.A. Washington, and a second edition
of Jefferson's A Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1810).
Note: The Jefferson Library is not a repository for Thomas Jefferson's original papers. These documents are held at various other locations, including the Library of Congress, University of Virginia, and the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Some titles owned by Thomas Jefferson are on display in The
Library (Book Room) at Monticello.
Ephemera Collection
The Library has a collection of flyers, stamps, newspaper clippings,
and brochures relating to Jefferson and the Monticello estate.
Image Collection
Architectural Image Collection
The Architectural Image Collection consists of approximately 2000 photocopies, post cards, photographs, and drawings of Monticello's interior, exterior, and grounds, dating from Jefferson's time through the present. View the finding aid here.
Slides
There are approximately 6500 slides of architectural and archaeological
sites and European locations relevant to Jefferson and Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. Archives
The Jefferson Library also houses the Archives of the Thomas
Jefferson Foundation, consisting of over 100 linear feet of publications
(galleys and early proofs), correspondence, curator reports, miscellaneous
printed material, and financial accounts. A printed finding aid
for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Archives is available in our
Reference section.
Manuscripts
The Library holds the papers of Milton L. Grigg, an architect
who worked on the early restoration of Monticello, as well as
Howard C. Rice's papers, assembled in preparation of his works,
Thomas Jefferson's Paris and Chastellux, Travels.
Architectural Material
The Library has approximately 300 architectural drawing and sketches
that pertain to the various restorations of Monticello and its
dependencies. There are also about 50 pieces relating to the excavations
of Shadwell, Jefferson's birthplace.