Dan Jordan at his desk at Monticello

Library Collections

Jefferson Library Collections

The Jefferson Library supports Monticello’s dual mission of preservation and education by collecting, preserving, and sharing textual and visual resources that shed light on all aspects of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the people who lived and were enslaved on this and other Jefferson-related sites, and their legacy. The Library functions as the repository and library of record for the history of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, and stewards the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Archives which include records, documents, and materials relevant to the work and history of the Foundation. As part of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, we support enquiry into the founding and the early national period of the United States and the Atlantic world. To this end, we collect books, journal and newspaper articles, ephemera, unpublished research, biographical, genealogical and reference works, websites, photographs, audio-visual recordings, and digital material.

In addition to all materials about Thomas Jefferson and Monticello, we acquire materials on the colonial and early federal periods, revolutionary America and Atlantic history, ethics, religion and philosophy, and European arts and culture. Topics of particular interest include architecture and landscape design, gardening and horticulture, material culture, wine and cuisine, westward expansion, slavery and the legacies of slavery, natural rights, science and exploration, education and the University of Virginia, Jefferson descendants, Monticello’s enslaved community and their descendants, native peoples and Indigenous history, the legacy of Jefferson's actions and ideas, and public history and interpretation.

The Library holds some 40,000 physical items consisting of books and rare materials, research reports and essays, and unique archival collections spanning over 900 linear feet. Library users can locate our books and rare materials via our Thomas Jefferson Portal online catalog and research gateway, and consult finding aids for our Special Collections and Archives via ArchivesSpace. 

Research Databases

The Jefferson Library provides online access to an extensive and comprehensive collection of digitized books and pamphlets, historical newspapers, journals and periodicals, manuscripts and personal papers, government and public documents, theses and dissertations, biographical and genealogical sources, reference sources and ephemera through our curated portfolio of subscription databases. Staff, fellows, and researchers have onsite access to some 75 core full-text research databases and online research tools available via our Research Databases page, and to over 10 million ebooks and 500,000 electronic journals and newspapers accessible via the Thomas Jefferson Portal.

Special Collections and Archives

The Library is home to the following unique research compilations that may be located via the Thomas Jefferson Portal.

  • Information File consisting of 1,600 file folders of unpublished and published information on topics related to Jefferson and Monticello, organized by Subjects, People, and Places.
  • Thomas Jefferson and the Arts consisting of 366 file folders on works of art owned by Jefferson and 124 folders on works of art depicting Jefferson.
  • Manuscript Facsimiles consisting of 165 file folders containing facsimile reproductions of Jefferson-era manuscripts arranged topically.
  • Research Reports consisting of 1,900 unpublished reports, essays and speeches compiled or written by Foundation staff, interns, other researchers and presenters for over 65 years. These deal with a wide range of topics related to Jefferson, Monticello, the enslaved community, and various research and investigative projects carried out over six decades of the Foundation’s history. Examples of these unique items include Monticello archaeology reports, The Joinery at Jefferson's Monticello, Chronologies of the Whereabouts of Martha Jefferson, 1784-1809, Mary Jefferson, 1784-1809, Thomas Jefferson, 1767-1826, Jefferson’s Oil-Lighting Fixtures, and addresses delivered during Fourth of July and Naturalization Ceremonies held at Monticello and other presentations.
  • Newspaper Clippings consisting of newspaper articles related to Jefferson, Monticello, and the activities of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation published from 1877 to the present.

The Jefferson Library is also home to the archives of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, and to several special research archives. Fully processed materials are described for users in the form of finding aids in varying detail available in ArchivesSpace. Some collections have access restrictions, which are stated in the access notes for collections and/or noted under particular sections of a collection. In general, restricted materials are not available for reference except by authorized Foundation staff. Permission to use a restricted collection may be sought in writing from the Foundation Librarian by a researcher with legitimate research purposes. Otherwise, all archival materials are open and available to users upon completion of requisite forms.

Our notable archival and manuscript collections include:

  • Thomas Jefferson Foundation Archives consisting of business and other official records related to the history, development, operations, restoration, educational and scholarly activities of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and its various departments since its incorporation in 1923.
  • Getting Word African American Oral History Archive consisting of three decades of oral histories and research materials collected as part of the Getting Word oral history project founded in 1993, which illuminates and preserves the stories of enslaved individuals associated with Monticello and the surrounding area, and their descendants. Contact the Getting Word African American History Department for access to the material in this archive.
  • Howard C. Rice Collection on 18th-century France and Americans who lived there. This collection includes over 450 books and pamphlets, 60 binders of research notes, photographs, ephemera, and personal correspondence pertaining to Rice’s edition of the Marquis de Chastellux's Travels in North America in the Years 1780, 1781, and 1782, published in 1963, and his book, Thomas Jefferson’s Paris, published in 1976.
  • Filippo Mazzei Archive, a gift of scholar Sister Margherita Marchione, MPF. This extensive collection includes manuscript facsimiles of primary sources, over 200 printed monographs, and other published material and research notes related to Filippo Mazzei, the Italian patriot of the American Revolution; along with Marchione’s personal papers and publications that constitute the Sister Margherita Marchione Papers.
  • Jeffrey L. Hantman Archive of Monacan Archaeology, History and Culture, the first of its kind in the United States, was developed in 2022 in partnership with Professor Emeritus Jeffrey L. Hantman and the Monacan Nation based in Amherst County, Virginia. The goal of this archive is to make all known archaeological research at Monacan settlements readily accessible to members of the Monacan Nation and to the public.
  • Marc Leepson Research Collection consisting of research files and correspondence compiled by author and historian Marc Leepson on the Levy family and their key role in the history and preservation of Monticello. Leepson authored the 1998 article, “The Levys of Monticello,” published in Preservation Magazine, and the book, Saving Monticello, published in 2001.
  • Ron Laycock Collection of Lewis and Clark Literature, presented to the Jefferson Library by Mr. Ron Laycock, former president of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, between 2003 to 2017. This collection comprises over 1,000 items amassed by Laycock over a span of twenty years and encompasses core book publications (both fiction and nonfiction), scholarly articles, event and commemorative programs, pamphlets and travel guides, maps and posters, newspaper and journal articles, memorabilia, school curricula, drama scripts and audiovisual materials, many rare and unique. It is one of the largest collections of material in the United States related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
  • H. Guthrie Allen Jr. Lewis and Clark Collection, gifted to the Jefferson Library in 2018 by Mrs. Marguerite Allen. This collection includes several rare nineteenth-century imprints contemporary with or published shortly after the conclusion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806.
  • Noble E. Cunningham Papers consisting of research notes, reviews, image slides and correspondence from Jefferson scholar, Professor Noble E. Cunningham. The contents date from 1957 to 2005, and relate to his various published books, conference papers, journal articles, and lectures.
  • Monticello Association Papers, consisting of Association- owned records and correspondence since 1869 related to Jefferson descendants who are members of the Monticello Association.

Note: The Jefferson Library is not a repository for Thomas Jefferson's original papers. These documents are held at various institutions, including the Library of Congress, University of Virginia, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. See our Jefferson Manuscript Collections page for more details.  

Books and Printed Materials

There are over 4,000 rare and unique books and printed materials in our Special Collections dealing with Jefferson, his writings, his contemporaries, Virginiana, and the history of the time period.

We hold a significant collection of:

  • Jefferson's A Manual of Parliamentary Practice with over 40 separate print editions, beginning with the second edition published in 1810;
  • Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia published in London by John Stockdale in 1787, plus 15 subsequent print editions;
  • Jefferson’s The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth first published in 1902, plus 16 subsequent editions/printings.

Other notable items include:

  • Monticello Guest Book, containing the signatures of distinguished visitors from 1957 to 1987, including visiting dignitaries, members of foreign delegations, politicians, foreign aristocracy, and celebrities.
  • The family Bible of James Maury (1746-1840), gift of the Fontaine-Maury Society in 2023. This 1769 quarto edition published in Oxford, England is filled with genealogical records of the Fontaine and Maury families and other manuscript notes. In 1829, Maury listed himself as the sole surviving member among his schoolmates, namely Thomas Jefferson, Dabney Carr, John Walker, and Matthew Maury, along with their birth and death dates. All five were educated by Maury’s father, the Reverend James Maury (1718-1769).
  • John Baxter’s A New and Impartial History of England (London, 1796-1801), a rare volume acquired by the Jefferson Library from the United Kingdom in 2022. Jefferson repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought this edition between the years 1820 and 1824 after he ceded his copy to Congress when he sold his library to the nation in 1815. Jefferson preferred Baxter to David Hume’s History of England (1754-61), the dominant history at the time which Jefferson despised for its Tory slant.
  • Jefferson’s Law Reports, gift of the Friends of the Virginia Beach Public Library in 2022. One of Jefferson’s lesser-known works compiled by him to document what he considered to be important colonial court decisions in Virginia, this work was only published after his death in 1829 by this grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph under the title, Reports of Cases Determined in the General Court of Virginia, from 1730, to 1740; and from 1768, to 1772.
  • Over 80 volumes on Palladian architecture, Neoclassicism, and the history of ancient Rome gifted to the Jefferson Library in 2024 by Travis McDonald, Emeritus Director of Restoration at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest.
  • A collection of over 230 first editions of Virginiana gifted to the Jefferson Library in 2009 by Terry Belanger, Founding Director of Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

Image Collections

Monticello Architectural Image Collection consisting of photographs, slides and negatives, and facsimiles of drawings, paintings, and engravings of the exterior and interior of Monticello and the grounds that surround it from circa 1770 to the present.

Historic Picture Postcard Collection consisting of historic postcards depicting individual views of Monticello’s exterior and interior, dependencies, gardens and grounds, and related sites, including places in Europe visited by Jefferson. Selected images are accessible online via the Jefferson Library Digital Archive.

Photograph Collection consisting of photographic prints and slides of special events held at Monticello, historic venues, and sites known to Jefferson. 

Genealogical Research

In addition to the biographical and genealogical databases we provide, the Library has a small but significant reference collection of printed materials useful to genealogists. This collection focuses mainly on Virginia history and vital records and includes some sources on surrounding states.

Special Exhibits

The Jefferson Library has mounted several special exhibits in our lobby area over the years.

In 2026, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. We invite you to view our current exhibit, "Great Birthdays of Our Republic: Commemorating the Declaration of Independence," which features material from our archives celebrating our nation's previous "great birthdays," namely 1826, 1876, 1926, and 1976. You can find it on display in the library lobby through 2026. Learn more about Monticello's initiatives for the nation's 250th birthday.

Past exhibits have included:

A number of these are also accessible via the Jefferson Library Digital Archive.

Gifts and Donations

The Jefferson Library welcomes donations and contributions of published and unpublished material that extend and enhance the resources we offer to our library patrons. Please review our gift and donation policies if you wish to consider a gift in kind. Financial donations are also welcomed and are put to good use to build our collection for use by staff and researchers. 
 

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