Writings: Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters
by Thomas Jefferson 
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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third United States President (1801-9) and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. An advocate of republicanism, he envisioned America as an 'Empire of Liberty' that would strive to promote freedom around the world. First published in 1853-4, this nine-volume edition of Jefferson's writings shows the breadth of his intellectual and political interests. His autobiography, letters, diaries and political memoranda reflect a life lived at the show more centre of pivotal events, including the French and American Revolutions, and the founding of a new nation. Through them we discover the evolving relationships between the United States and the European powers, and the development of the American constitution and judicial system. Volume 8 contains all his inaugural addresses and messages as President, his writings on topics such as slavery, trade, and the constitution of Virginia, and biographical notes on other distinguished figures. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I would not even know where to begin reviewing this tome, which collects many of Thomas Jefferson's writings. Of all the Founding Fathers, he has always been the most intriguing to me with his numerous pursuits -- a real Renaissance man. I had read many of the collected writings separately over the years (I was a history and political science major) but reading them collected this way was a great immersive experience.
This is a must have for any Jefferson fan. It contains an excellent compilation of his letters. Because he published nothing other than his Notes on the State of Virginia, one has to read his letters in order to understand his thinking.
What can be more interesting in terms of history as well as autobiography than reading letters and essays, notes and musings of great men, preserved to teach generations to come. This series is very well edited and beautifully bound, and we are looking forward to using these in homeschooling too.
Thomas Jefferson was a genius. I'm afraid he is rolling over in his grave now.
With slip cover
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Author Information
425+ Works 12,586 Members
Politician, philosopher, farmer, architect, and author, Jefferson was born to Peter and Jane Randolph Jefferson on April 13, 1743, in Tuckahoe, Virginia. As Jefferson observed in his autobiography, his parents could "trace their pedigree far back in England and Scotland." At the age of 16, Thomas Jefferson entered William and Mary College; at age show more 24, Jefferson was admitted to the bar; at 25, he was elected to the Virginia Assembly. Renowned for his political contributions to the American colonies, and later, to the embryonic Republic, Jefferson published in 1774 A Summary View of the Rights of British America, celebrating the inalienable natural rights claimed by the colonialists. In 1775 Jefferson was elected to the Continental Congress; in 1776 he joined the five-person committee responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence---a document that is widely regarded as being largely Jefferson's own work. In 1779 Jefferson was elected governor of the state of Virginia, and in subsequent years he distinguished himself both as a cosmopolitan international politician and as a man committed to the future of Virginia. In 1789 he was appointed U.S. secretary of state, in 1797 he served as vice president under President John Adams, and in 1801 he was elected third president of the United States. Jefferson's literary career was no less stellar than his political accomplishments. He authored tracts and books on such diverse subjects as gardening, the life of Jesus, the history of Virginia, and the practices of farming. The precise descriptions of nature that inform his Notes on the State of Virginia (1787) are frequently credited with foreshadowing the Hudson River school of aesthetics. Thomas Jefferson died on the fourth of July. His grave marker, engraved with words of his own choosing, states, "Here lies Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia." (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Thomas Jefferson has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Writings: Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters
- Alternate titles
- Writings : Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters
- Original publication date
- 1967 [this edition only]
- People/Characters
- Thomas Jefferson
- Important places
- Virginia, USA
- Quotations
- Time and accident are committing daily havoc on the originals of the valuable historical and State papers deposited in our public offices The late war has done the work of centuries in this business. The last cannot be recove... (show all)red but let us save what remains not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time but by such a multiplication of copies as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government
- DDC/MDS
- 973.3 — History & geography History of North America United States Revolutionary War (1775-89)
- LCC
- E302 .J442 — History of the United States United States Revolution to the Civil War, 1775/1783-1861 Biography (Late eighteenth century)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,680
- Popularity
- 13,211
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (4.12)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 28
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 6