Research Guide

The Jefferson Library has resources on the many subjects that interested Thomas Jefferson, and about the world he lived in.

Below are some of the resources we suggest you consult here when doing research on a specific subject (for example, Palladian architecture, or Monticello's entrance hall, or the Louisiana Purchase).

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Thomas Jefferson’s papers did not remain in an intact collection after his death; they are now located in more than 900 different repositories all over the world.  Several different editions of his papers have been published since his death, but none of them are comprehensive or complete so far. This guide will help you navigate the different sources of Jefferson documents to locate the information you need.

For full information on published editions of Jefferson's papers, see our article on the topic.

Finding Specific Documents

All document can now be located in the Papers of Thomas Jefferson section of Founders Online.  You can browse by date or correspondent, or search for specific keywords.  Note that this database includes transcriptions that have not been fully verified by the Papers of Thomas Jefferson and Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series staff; these are "early access" documents.

Note that the currently available letterpress editions of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson and Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series provide access to a slightly different set of documents:

• Papers of Thomas Jefferson: 1760 through 19 November 1805 (47 volumes) 
• Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series: 4 March 1809 through 31 March 1824 (20 volumes)

Finding Documents on a Specific Topic

If you are searching for documents on a certain topic, or that concern a specific person, the best strategy is to first consult sources which will allow you to search as many documents as quickly as possible.

1. Check Papers of Thomas Jefferson and Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, using either the fee-based or free online version.  If you must resort to the print edition, Volume 21 is a cumulative index for the first 20 volumes.  The indexes for all published PTJ:RS volumes can be searched here on the Monticello website.
2. The Jefferson Quotes and Family Letters database allows you to search by subject category; see other quotation collections below.

Other Options

There are a number of smaller editions of Jefferson papers, usually highly specialized by topic, which may contain a document you are looking for.  You may wish to consult any or all of these, depending on your research topic:

Adams, Dickinson W. and Ruth W. Lester, eds. Jefferson's Extracts from the Gospels: "The Philosophy of Jesus" and "The Life and Morals of Jesus". Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.  This volume contains selected letters that discuss religious topics.  The letters are transcribed and annotated according to the standards and procedures established by the Papers of Thomas Jefferson editors.

Betts, Edwin M., and James Bear, Jr., eds. Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1966. Reprinted Charlottesville: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1986.  This volume contains selected correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and his children, grandchildren, siblings and in-laws.

Betts, Edwin M., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book: With Commentary and Relevant Extracts from Other Writings. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953. Rep. 1976, 1987, 1999.  This edition of the Farm Book contains letters (some only excerpted) related to farming and agriculture.

Betts, Edwin M., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Garden Book, 1766-1824: With Relevant Extracts from His Other Writings, 1944. Rep. 1999.  This edition of the Garden Book contains letters (some only excerpted) relating to gardening and horticulture.

Cappon, Lester J., ed. The Adams-Jefferson Letters. Chapel Hill NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1959. Rep. 1988.  This two-volume work contains the complete correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, spanning the years 1777-1826.  It also includes letters to and from Abigail Adams.

Smith, James Morton, ed.  The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 1776-1826.  New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995.  This three-volume work contains the complete correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

There are also several sources of Jefferson quotations which can be useful:

Foley, John P., ed.  The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia.  New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1800.  Available online.

Kaminski, John, ed. The Quotable Jefferson.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006.

Lastly, it is often worthwhile to simply search Google and especially Google Books for the letter or reference you are looking for.  This may yield a useful citation to a published edition of Jefferson's writings; we recommend double-checking any quotations found using this method against the Princeton edition of Jefferson's papers, as spurious quotes can be a problem

If you are looking for a specific book at the Jefferson Library, follow the steps below.

Go to the TJ Portal (our online catalog) at https://tjportal.on.worldcat.org.

If you know the title of the book:

1. Type in the exact title, or a distinctive phrase from the title of the book, and put it in double quote marks, e.g. "notes on the state of virginia" (you can also narrow your search to just the title field by typing ti:[title phrase], e.g. ti:notes on the state of virginia
2. Hit the Enter key, or click the search button with the small magnifying glass icon next to the search box.

If you know the author of the book:

1. if you know the author's full name, type it in directory-style, or simply type in the last name; for example:
   • ambrose (last name only)
   • ambrose, s
   • ambrose, stephen
   • ambrose, stephen e
2. Hint: It's best to use only the author's first initial, unless it is an extremely common surname.
3. click on Author Browse at the right of the screen under Search By
4. OR, if you only know part of the author's name, type in the part you know and click Author; for example:
   • ambrose
   • cherry
5. Hint: This second method only works well if the name is not a common one.
6. click Search

If the search brings up the book you want

1. check to see where it is located (Reading Room, Curatorial, etc.)
   • if it is not located where you are, contact the Research Librarian
2. check to see whether it is available (i.e. not checked out or renewed)
   • if it is not available, place a hold or recall on it
3. use the call number to locate the book on the shelf
4. if you cannot find the book on the shelf, see the Research Librarian

If the search does not bring up the book you want

1. check with the Research Librarian
2. Thomas Jefferson Foundation staff, fellows, and volunteers may request an Interlibrary Loan
3. if you think we should own the book, fill out our Recommendation Form
4. use WorldCat to locate a library near you that does own the item

If you are looking for a specific article at the Jefferson Library, follow the steps below.

If you have an exact citation

• look for the article under the author's last name in the Articles
• if you do not find it there, see our list of periodical subscriptions to find out whether we own the issue you need
• if you still cannot locate the article, Foundation staff,fellows, and interns may submit an Interlibrary Loan request

If you have a partial citation (need to verify)

• try searching for the article in the TJPortal
• if you do not find it there, try looking in an article database(see Research Librarian for assistance with this)
• once you have verified the citation, follow the steps in the above section to obtain the article; if you cannot verify the citation, ask for assistance

Thomas Jefferson is often quoted in books, news articles, and on the Internet.  Below is a guide to finding the source of quotations attributed to Thomas Jefferson, and to finding quotations from Jefferson's writings on specific topics.

Finding a Specific Quotation

The first thing to do, although it may seem surprising, is to search for your quotation using a search engine such as Google.  Try searching for your quotation in large collections of digitized print material as well, such as Google Books, Hathi Trust, and the Internet Archive.  If your results consist only of websites and books that attribute the quotation to Thomas Jefferson but do not provide a citation, the quotation may well be spurious.  Check our listing of known spurious Jefferson quotations, and if you do not see it there, please contact us.

If, however, you do spot your quotation in one or more sources with a useful citation, it is very likely genuine.  It's also highly likely that it can be found in a published collection of Jefferson's writings, since this would have made it much more widely available.  See our guide to searching Jefferson's papers to locate the exact letter or document that contains your quotation.

Finding Quotations on a Specific Topic

If you are not looking to determine the source of a particular quotation, but instead would like to locate passages in Jefferson's writings where he may have mentioned a certain topic, we recommend a different strategy.  Instead of casting a wide net, it is often more fruitful to start with existing compilations of Jefferson quotations.  The following are some of the most useful books and websites for finding an appropriate quotation.

1. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series has created a digital archive with hundreds of quotations by and about Thomas Jefferson. Go to Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters and search for a quote by keyword or chose from one of the Quote Categories in the list.
2. The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, ed. John P. Foley (NY: Funk & Wagnalls, 1900), 2 vols.  This extensive compilation, although quite old, is still extremely useful.  It is available in many libraries, and is also available online through the Hathi Trust Digital Library.  Quotations from the Jeffersonian Cyclopedia are drawn mostly from the Washington and Ford editions of Jefferson's writings, and Sarah Randolph's Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, and if possible they should be checked against the more-authoritative Princeton edition.T
3. Quotable Jefferson, ed. John P. Kaminski (Princeton, 2006).  More reliable than the Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, this compilation can be found in many libraries.
4. If none of the above prove useful, one can always resort to the full Princeton edition of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson.  There is a fee-based Digital Edition which can be searched by keyword, as well as a free version from the National Archives.

If you are looking for a specific letter at the Jefferson Library, there are several sources to choose from, explained below.

Jefferson's Published Papers

There have been three major publications of Jefferson's correspondence:

• Paul Leicester Ford edition, (Putnam, 1892): 10 volumes
• Lipscomb & Bergh edition (Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1903-1905): 20 volumes
• Boyd edition (Princeton, 1950- ): 31 volumes to date

The first two editions encompass Jefferson's entire lifespan, but are not as comprehensive as the Boyd edition; however, the Boyd edition is still in progress, and only covers the years 1760-1800.

Internet Sources

Many of Jefferson's writings have also been made available online.

• Founder's Online
• Thomas Jefferson Papers, from the Library of Congress's American Memory Project
• Definitive Edition of the Lipscomb & Bergh compilation
• Massachusetts Historical Society's Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive

On-Site Resources at the Jefferson Library

• Information Files (link to Finding Aid): if the letter you're looking for is a particularly important one, there may be a transcription in the Information Files

For additional assistance, contact the Research Librarian.