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Submitted by mattd on Fri, 2010-08-06 08:59
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Suggested Reading List

This page contains a general list of suggested reading material pertaining to Thomas Jefferson and his world, organized by topic. Some of these books may be purchased online through our Museum Shop. Some may be out of print, but can be obtained through your local library or used bookseller. Titles are linked to WorldCat, where you can search for copies in libraries near you.

For reading suggestions for children, please see the bibliography on the Monticello Classroom site. For more specialized references on specific topics, see "Further Sources" listed in individual articles in the Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia.

Architecture

General

Monticello

  • Beiswanger, William L. Monticello in Measured Drawings. Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1998.  Text by Monticello's Robert H. Smith Director of Restoration, accompanied by reproductions of the measured drawings of Monticello done by the Historic American Buildings Survey.
  • McLaughlin, Jack. Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder. New York: Holt, 1988. A useful narrative of the construction of Monticello.

Other Buildings

Art and Music

Biography

  • Bernstein, R. B. Thomas Jefferson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. A well-regarded one-volume biography; fairly short (253 pages).
  • Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. Jefferson. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1987. 414 pages. A well-regarded one-volume biography.
  • Ellis, Joseph J. Jefferson. New York: Knopf, 1997. 440 pages. A thorough study of Thomas Jefferson's complex and conflicted personality.
  • Kimball, Marie. Kimball's unfinished multi-volume study of Jefferson does a particularly thorough job of discussing Jefferson's relationships, and contains a fairly extensive section on his wife, [[Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson]].
    • 1776. New York: Coward-McCann, 1943. 358 pp.
    • 1784. New York: Coward-McCann, 1947.
    • 1789. New York: Coward-McCann, 1950.
  • Malone, Dumas. Jefferson and His Time. Boston: Little, Brown, 1948-1981. 6 vols. This seminal biography is one of the most famous ever written; careful scholarship and great detail.
  • Malone, Dumas. Biography. Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1993. 48 pp. A reprint of Malone's 1933 essay on Jefferson for the Dictionary of American Biography, with a preface by Merrill Peterson.
  • Mayo, Bernard (ed.). American. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1942. 384 pp. This biography tells Jefferson's life story using excerpts from his own writings.
  • Padover, Saul K. Jefferson. London: J. Cape, 1942. 192 pp. Abridged version reprinted by New American Library in 1952 and 1970.
  • Randall, Henry S. The Life of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1857. This is one of the first major biographies of Thomas Jefferson, for which the author interviewed members of Jefferson's family. Modern reprints are available. 1, 2, 3.

Books and Libraries

  • Cole, John Y. Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1993.
  • Gilreath, James, and Douglas L. Wilson (eds.). Thomas Jefferson's Library: A Catalog with the Entries in His Own Order. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1989. Online version available.
  • Sowerby, E Millicent. Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1952-1959. Subsequently published by the University Press of Virginia in 1983.
  • Wilson, Douglas L. Jefferson's Books. Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 1996.

Education

  • Dabney, Virginius. Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1981.
  • McDonald, Robert M.S., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Military Academy: Founding West Point. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2004.
  • Wagoner, Jennings L., Jr. Jefferson and Education. Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2004.
  • Wills, Gary. Mr. Jefferson's University. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2002.

Family

  • 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.
  • Langhorne, Elizabeth. Monticello, a Family Story. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1987.
  • Mayo, Bernard, ed. Thomas Jefferson and his Unknown Brother. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1981.
  • Merrill, Boynton, Jr. Jefferson's Nephews: A Frontier Tragedy. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1987 (2nd ed.).
  • Randall, Henry S. The Life of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1857. This is one of the first major biographies of Thomas Jefferson, for which the author interviewed members of Jefferson's family. Modern reprints are available.
  • Randolph, Sarah N. The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson. 1971; rpt. 1985.
  • Shackelford, George Green, ed. Collected Papers to Commemorate Fifty Years of the Monticello Association of the Descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Charlottesville: Monticello Association, 1965. 2 vols.

Food and Drink

  • Fowler, Damon Lee, ed. Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance. 2005.
  • Gabler, James M. Passions: The Wines & Travels of Thomas Jefferson. 1995.
  • Kimball, Marie. Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book. 1949; rpt. 1987.
  • Lawrence, R. de Treville, III. Jefferson and Wine: Model of Moderation. 1989.
  • Randolph, Mary, The Virginia Housewife. 1824; rpt. 1984. Cookbook by a family relation.

Gardening and Horticulture

  • Bemiss, Margaret Page. 1975-2007. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2009. See especially Chapter 16, on the restoration of Monticello's gardens.
  • Betts, Edwin M., ed. Book. Princeton: Published for the American Philosophical Society by Princeton University Press, 1953. Reprinted 1976, 1999. Contains a facsimile of Jefferson's Farm Book, including information about farm operations, slaves, livestock, crops, manufactories, etc. Also includes brief articles and excerpts from relevant letters. The manuscript of the Farm Book is available on the Massachusetts Historical Society website at http://www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/farm.
  • Betts, Edwin M., ed. Book. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1944. Reprinted 1985, 1999. Contains a facsimile of Jefferson's Garden Book, including information about flowers, trees, fruits, etc. Also includes brief articles and excerpts from relevant letters. The manuscript of the Garden Book is available on the Massachusetts Historical Society website at http://www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/garden.
  • Betts, Edwin M., and Hazelhurst Bolton Perkins. Monticello. 3rd ed. Revised and enlarged by Peter J. Hatch. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 1986.
  • Hatch, Peter J. Horticulture. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 1998.
  • Hatch, Peter J. Monticello. Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1992; rpt. 1998.
  • McEwan, Barbara. Farmer. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

Garden History

  • Adams, Denise Wiles. Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants 1640-1940. 2004
  • Adams, William Howard. Gardens Through History: Nature Perfected. 1991
  • Griffith, Lawrence D. Flowers and Herbs of Early America. Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg
  • Leighton, Ann. American Gardens of the Nineteenth Century. 1987
  • McMahon, Bernard. The American Gardener's Calendar. 1997 (reprint of 1806 edition).
  • Newcomb, Peggy Cornett. Popular Annuals of Eastern North America, 1865-1914. 1985
  • Sarudy, Barbara Wells. Gardens and Gardening in the Chesapeake, 1700-1805. 1998

Monticello

See also Gardening and Horticulture

  • Bear, James A., Jr., ed. Jefferson at Monticello. 1967. Reminiscences of a Monticello slave and overseer.
  • Leepson, Marc Saving Monticello. 2001.
  • Jackson, Donald. A Year at Monticello - 1795. 1989.
  • Kelso, William M. Archaeology at Monticello. 1997.
  • Lautman, Robert C. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello: A Photographic Portrait. 1997. Black and white.
  • Peterson, Merrill D., ed. Visitors to Monticello. 1989. First-hand accounts from 1780 to 1984.
  • Stein, Susan R. The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. 1993.
  • Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. ''The Great Birthday of Our Republic. 2003. Celebrating Independence Day at Monticello.
  • Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. Monticello: A Guidebook. 1997.
  • Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. 2002.
  • Urofsky, Melvin I. The Levy Family and Monticello: 1834-1923. 2001.

Politics and Law

  • Banning, Lance. Jefferson and Madison: Three Conversations From the Founding. 1995.
  • ---. The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology. 1978.
  • Caldwell, Lynton K. The Administrative Theories of Hamilton and Jefferson. 1987.
  • Christman, Margaret C.S. The Spirit of Party: Hamilton and Jefferson at Odds. 1992.
  • Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. The Process of Government Under Jefferson. 1978.
  • Dewey, Frank L. Thomas Jefferson, Lawyer. 1986.
  • Dumbauld, Edward. Thomas Jefferson and the Law. 1978.
  • Dunn, Susan. Jefferson's Second Revolution: The Election Crisis of 1800 and the Triumph of Republicanism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
  • Ellis, Joseph J. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. 2000.
  • Ellis, Joseph J. What Did the Declaration Declare? 1999
  • Hellenbrand, Harold. The Unfinished Revolution: Education and Politics in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson. 1990.
  • Kaminski, John P. Thomas Jefferson: Philosopher and Politician. 2005.
  • Levy, Leonard W. Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side. 1989.
  • McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. 1976.
  • Matthews, Richard. The Radical Politics of Thomas Jefferson. 1986.
  • Mayer, David N. The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson. 1994.
  • Morgan, Edmund S. The Meaning of Independence: John Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. 1976. Reprint 2004.
  • Peterson, Merrill D. Adams and Jefferson: A Revolutionary Dialogue.
  • Peterson, Merrill D., and Robert C. Vaughn, eds. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. 1988.
  • Schwartz, Bernard. Thomas Jefferson and Bolling v. Bolling: Law & the Legal Profession in Pre-Revolutionary America. 1997.
  • Sheehan, Bernard W. Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian. 1973.
  • Sheldon, Garrett Ward. The Political Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. 1992.
  • Tucker, Robert W., and David C. Hendrickson. Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson. 1990.
  • Wood, Gordon S. The Creation of the American Republic. 1969.

Religion

  • Adams, Dickinson W. (ed.). Jesus." Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. The introduction to this book, by the late Eugene Sheridan, is an excellent overview of Thomas Jefferson's religious development throughout his life. The book also contains facsimiles of Jefferson's two Bible compilations, and the full text of many of his letters in which he discusses religion.
  • Gaustad, Edwin S. Jefferson. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996.
  • Holmes, David. Fathers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. A good broad introduction to the religious faith of many of the Founding Fathers, including Franklin, Washington, Adams, Madison, Monroe, and of course Jefferson.
  • Hutson, James. Republic. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1998. A companion catalog for an exhibition held at the Library of Congress. Contains a good many images and illustrations. The online companion to the exhibit can still be seen here.
  • Peterson, Merrill D., and Robert C. Vaughn, eds. Freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. A collection of essays about Jefferson's Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom.
  • Sanford, Charles B. Jefferson. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1984. An in-depth examination of Jefferson's religious beliefs.
  • Sheridan, Eugene R. Religion. Charlottesville, Va.: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 1998. The text of this book, part of the Monticello Monograph series, is almost identical to the introduction to Jefferson's Extracts from the Gospels (above).
  • Spangler, Jewel L. Century. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2008. A good study of the evolution of religion in Virginia, setting the stage for Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom.
  • Vicchio, Stephen J. Religion. Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock, 2007.
  • Waldman, Stephen. America. New York: Random House, 2008. Another good overview of the historical context of Jefferson's religious beliefs, as well as those of other contemporaries.

Science and Exploration

  • Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West. 1996.
  • Bedini, Silvio A. Thomas Jefferson and His Copying Machines. 1984.
  • Bedini, Silvio A. Thomas Jefferson: Statesman of Science. 1990.
  • Cerami, Charles A. Jefferson's Great Gamble: The Remarkable Story of Jefferson, Napoleon and the Men Behind the Louisiana Purchase. 2003.
  • Cohen, I. Bernard. Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and James Madison. 1995.
  • Cohen, I. Bernard, ed. Thomas Jefferson and the Sciences. 1980. Reprinted articles.
  • Flores, Dan L. Jefferson and Southwest Exploration: The Freeman and Austin Accounts of the Red River Expedition of 1806. 1984.
  • Greene, John C. American Science in the Age of Jefferson. 1984.
  • Jackson, Donald. Thomas Jefferson & the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello. 1981.
  • Miller, Charles A. Jefferson and Nature. 1993.
  • Regis, Pamela. Describing Early America: Bartram, Jefferson, Crêvecoeur, and the Rhetoric of Natural History. 1992.
  • Ronda, James P. Thomas Jefferson and the Changing West. 1997.
  • Thomson, Keith. A Passion for Nature. 2008.

Travel

  • Adams, William Howard. The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson. 1997.
  • Dumbauld, Edward. Thomas Jefferson, American Tourist : Being an Account of His Journeys in the United States of America, England, France, Italy, the Low Countries, and Germany. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1946 (reprinted 1976).
  • Kimball, Marie. Jefferson: The Scene of Europe, 1784 to 1789. New York : Coward-McCann, c1950.
  • Maguire, Robert J., ed. The Tour to the Northern Lakes of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, May - June 1791. A facsimile edition of their travel journals. 1995.
  • Moore, Roy and Alma. Thomas Jefferson's Journey to the South of France. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1999.
  • Rice, Howard C. Thomas Jefferson's Paris. 1976.
  • Shackelford, George Green. Thomas Jefferson's Travels in Europe, 1784-1789. 1995.
  • Wilson, Douglas L., and Lucia Stanton (eds.). Jefferson Abroad. New York: Modern Library, 1999.

Slavery and the Enslaved Community at Monticello

  • Bear, James A., Jr., ed. Jefferson at Monticello. 1967. Reminiscences of a Monticello slave and overseer.
  • Betts, Edwin M., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book. 1953.
  • Gordon-Reed, Annette. The Hemingses of Monticello. 2008.
  • Miller, John Chester. The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery. 1977; rpt. 1991.
  • Onuf, Peter S., ed. Jeffersonian Legacies. Includes three essays on Jefferson and slavery. 1993.
  • Stanton, Lucia. Free Some Day: the African American Families at Monticello. 2000.
  • Stanton, Lucia. Slavery at Monticello. 1996.

More General Works on Slavery and African-American History

  • Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made.'' 1972, 1976.
  • Goodheart, Lawrence B. and others, eds. Slavery in American Society. 3rd ed. 1993.
  • Kolchin, Peter. American Slavery 1619-1877. 1994.
  • Morgan, Edmund S. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. 1975.
  • Morgan, Philip D. Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
  • Swann-Wright, Dianne. A Way Out of No Way: Claiming Family and Freedom in the New South. 2002.
  • Tate, Thad W. The Negro in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg. 1965.
  • Wright, Donald R. African Americans in the Early Republic. 1993.

Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

  • Burton, Cynthia H. Jefferson Vindicated: Fallacies, Omissions, and Contradictions in the Hemings Genealogical Search. 2005.
  • Gordon-Reed, Annette. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. 1997.
  • Lanier, Shannon and Jane Feldman. Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family. 2000, 2002.
  • Lewis, Jan Ellen and Peter Onuf, eds. Sally Hemings & Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory & Civic Culture. 1999.

Thomas Jefferson's Writings

  • Bear, James A., Jr., and Lucia C. Stanton, eds. Jefferson's Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767-1826. 1997. Two-volume set.
  • Betts, Edwin M., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book. 1953; rpt. 1976.
  • Betts, Edwin M., ed. Thomas Jefferson's Garden Book. 1944; rpt. 1985.
  • Betts, Edwin M., and James A. Bear, Jr., eds. Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson. 1966; rpt. 1985.
  • Boyd, Julian P. The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution of the Text. 1999.
  • Boyd, Julian P., and others, eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 1950 - present. 35 vols.
  • Cappon, Lester J., ed. The Adams-Jefferson Letters. 1959; rpt. 1987.
  • Howell, Wilbur Samuel, ed. Jefferson's Parliamentary Writings. 1988.
  • Jefferson, Thomas. The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1790. 1914; reprint 2005.
  • Koch, Adrienne, and William Peden, eds. The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson. 1944; rpt. 1993.
  • Looney, J. Jefferson et al, eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series. 2004-present.
  • Mayo, Bernard, ed. Jefferson Himself. 1942; rpt. 1970.
  • Peden, William, ed. Notes on the State of Virginia. 1954.
  • Peterson, Merrill D., ed. Thomas Jefferson: Writings. 1984.
  • Peterson, Merrill D., ed. The Political Writings of Thomas Jefferson. 1993.
  • Smith, James Morton. The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 1776-1826. 1994.
  • Wilson, Douglas, ed. Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book. 1989.

[[Category:Frequently Asked Questions]]

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says

This page is always a work in progress (there are always new books coming along, after all), but it's a great place to start for the curious. All these titles have been suggested by Monticello staff - these are the books we use the most often and find the most useful for our work.

Anna Berkes – Research Librarian, Monticello Staff
July 2, 2010, 4:22 pm on Suggested Reading List