The following institutions have significant collections of Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson family manuscripts; they are listed in order of size of their collections.

Library of Congress

Collection Title: Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606-1827

Collection Size: ca. 27,000 items

Guide: Finding Aid (this refers to the microfilm edition)

Provenance: The bulk of this collection was sold to the Library of Congress in 1848 by Thomas Jefferson's grandson and executor of his estate, Thomas Jefferson Randolph.

Items of Interest: Jefferson's copies of the Records of the Virginia Company of London; housekeeping books of his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson; weather records;

Access: Most of this collection has been scanned from the microfilm and is available through the Library of Congress's American Memory project.

Massachusetts Historical Society

Collection Title: Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts, 1705-1827

Collection Size: ca. 9,500 items

Guide: Finding Aid

Provenance: Given in four different gifts by Jefferson descendants in 1898, 1911, 1937 and 1957

Items of Interest:  ca. 440 architectural drawings; weather records; portions of Jefferson's account books; his Garden and Farm books; and the manuscript of Notes on the State of Virginia.

Access: Some of the highlights of this collection have been scanned in color and are available through the Massachusetts Historical Society's website, Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive.  The collection is also available on 16 reels of microfilm.

Missouri History Museum

Collection Title: Thomas Jefferson Collection, 1773-1826

Collection Size: 890 items

Guide: Finding Aid (540KB PDF)

Provenance: Most of the items were donated to the Missouri Historical Society (now the Missouri History Museum) in the early twentieth century by collector William K. Bixby.

Items of Interest:  The collection consists mostly of correspondence from Jefferson's presidential years (1801-1809).

Access: The collection is available on 2 reels of microfilm.

American Philosophical Society

Collection Title: Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1775-1825

Collection Size: ca. 250 items

Guide: Finding Aid

Provenance: Presented to APS by Edwin Morris Betts in 1954.

Access: Some of this collection is available on microfilm (4 reels).  Selected items from this collection have been digitized.  Links are provided within the online finding aid.

Collection Title: Thomas Jefferson, letters to and from various persons, 1791-1840

Collection Size: 63 items

Guide:  Finding Aid

Access: Items are available on-site only.

Items of Interest: This collection consists in large part of Jefferson's correspondence with Louis Hue Girardin, regarding Girardin's work on the fourth volume of The History of Virginia (1816).

College of William and Mary

Collection Title: Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1761-1931

Collection Size: 160 items

Guide: Finding Aid

Provenance: Donated in 1930 by a descendant of William Short's brother.

Items of Interest:  Consists mostly of correspondence between Jefferson and William Short, his personal secretary and protege.

Access: All items in this collection have been scanned in color and are available through the library's online catalog.  For instructions on accessing these items online, see instructions on the page linked above.

New York Historical Society

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University of Virginia Library & Special Collections

Online Catalog

Click on "Catalog Access Only".

Guide to The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the University of Virginia

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Virginia Historical Society

Online Catalog

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