A definitive scholarly edition of the correspondence and papers of Thomas Jefferson Jefferson continues his pattern of returning home to Monticello for the summer months. He makes a brief visit to Poplar Forest in Bedford County to plan the development of that property. James Hubbard, a young enslaved worker at Monticello, escapes but is captured in Fairfax County. Another slave who has fled, James Hemings, rejects efforts to persuade him to return and disappears. Receiving news of the end of the conflict with Tripoli, Jefferson states that although it is “a small war in fact, it is big in principle.” He devotes much of his attention to relations with Spain. He considers alliance with Great Britain to force a resolution with Spain, then chooses instead to negotiate with France for the purchase of Florida and settlement of matters in dispute with Spain. He drafts bills to organize the militia by age and create a naval militia. Specimens sent by Lewis and Clark arrive. Jefferson calculates that the United States has recently acquired cessions of well over 9 million acres of land from Native Americans. He meets with visiting Creek leaders. Answering a query, Jefferson states that Patrick Henry was “the greatest orator that ever lived” but “avaritious & rotten hearted.”

A new definitive volume of the retirement papers of Thomas Jefferson This volume's 627 documents feature a vast assortment of topics. Jefferson writes of his dread of "a doting old age." He inserts an anonymous note in the Richmond Enquirer denying that he has endorsed a candidate for the next presidential election, and he publishes two letters in that newspaper under his own name to refute a Federalist claim that he once benefited by overcharging the United States Treasury. Jefferson does not reply to unsolicited letters seeking his opinion on constitutional matters, judicial review, and a call for universal white male suffrage in Virginia. Fearing that it would set a dangerous precedent, he declines appointment as patron of a new society "for the civilisation of the Indians." Jefferson is also asked to comment on proposed improvements to stoves, lighthouses, telescopes, and navigable balloons. Citing his advanced age and stiffened wrist, he avoids detailed replies and allows his complaint to John Adams about the volume of incoming correspondence to be leaked to the press in hopes that strangers will stop deluging them both with letters. Jefferson approves of the growth of Unitarianism and predicts that "there is not a young man now living in the US. who will not die an Unitarian."

A definitive new volume of the retirement papers of Thomas Jefferson This volume’s 601 documents show Jefferson dealing with various challenges. He is injured in a fall at Monticello, and his arm is still in a sling months later when he narrowly escapes drowning during a solitary horseback ride. Jefferson obtains temporary financial relief by transferring a $20,000 debt from the Bank of the United States to the College of William and Mary. Aided by a review of expenditures by the University of Virginia that uncovers no serious discrepancies, Jefferson and the Board of Visitors obtain a further $60,000 loan that permits construction to begin on the Rotunda. Jefferson drafts but apparently does not send John Adams a revealing letter on religion. He exchanges long letters discussing the Supreme Court with Justice William Johnson, and he writes to friends about France’s 1823 invasion of Spain. Jefferson also helps prepare a list of recommended books for the Albemarle Library Society. In November 1822, Jefferson’s grandson Francis Eppes marries Mary Elizabeth Randolph. He gives the newlyweds his mansion at Poplar Forest and visits it for the last time the following May. In a letter to James Monroe, Jefferson writes and then cancels “my race is near it’s term, and not nearer, I assure you, than I wish.”

A definitive scholarly edition of the retirement papers of Thomas Jefferson The 612 documents in this volume include Jefferson's notes on his early career, one of the lengthiest documents of his retirement. Often misleadingly called his autobiography, the text describes Jefferson's experience as an American revolutionary, a legislator shaping and revising Virginia's laws, and a United States diplomat in France as its own revolution neared. Jefferson sits for a portrait by Thomas Sully commissioned for West Point. He takes the unusual step of allowing his recommendation of a book by John Taylor to be published, insuring a wide circulation of Jefferson's views on the proper balance between state and federal powers. In a private letter he asserts that the federal judiciary is amassing overarching power, "ever acting, with noiseless foot, & unalarming advance, gaining ground step by step, and holding what it gains." Jefferson receives a description of an African American commemoration of the nation's 1807 ban on the importation of slaves. Jefferson advises that the opening of the University of Virginia is not imminent even as he oversees its construction and defends the high cost, stating as his goal, "to do, not what was to perish with ourselves, but what would remain, be respected and preserved thro' other ages."

This volume's 571 documents cover both Jefferson's opposition to restrictions on slavery in Missouri and his concession that "the boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave." Seeking support for the University of Virginia, he fears that southerners who receive New England educations will return with northern values. Calling it "the Hobby of my old age," Jefferson envisions an institution dedicated to "the illimitable freedom of the human mind." He infers approvingly from revolutionary movements in Europe and South America that "the disease of liberty is catching." Constantine S. Rafinesque addresses three public letters to Jefferson presenting archaeological research on Kentucky's Alligewi Indians, and Jefferson circulates a Nottoway-language vocabulary. Early in 1821 he cites declining health and advanced age as he turns over the management of his Monticello and Poplar Forest plantations to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. In discussions with trusted correspondents, Jefferson admires Jesus's morality while doubting his miracles, discusses the materiality of the soul, and shares his thoughts on Unitarianism. Reflecting on the dwindling number of their old friends, he tells Maria Cosway that he is like "a solitary trunk in a desolate field, from which all it's former companions have disappeared."

This volume's 598 documents span 22 April 1818 to 31 January 1819. Jefferson spends months preparing for a meeting to choose the site of the state university. He drafts the Rockfish Gap Report recommending the location of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville as well as legislation confirming this decision. Jefferson travels to Warm Springs to cure his rheumatism but instead contracts a painful infection on his buttocks. His enforced absence from Poplar Forest leads to detailed correspondence with plantation manager Joel Yancey. A work that Jefferson helped translate, Destutt de Tracy's Treatise on Political Economy, is finally published. Salma Hale visits Monticello and describes Jefferson's views on food, wine, and religion. In acknowledging an oration by Mordecai M. Noah, Jefferson remarks that the suffering of members of the Jewish faith "has furnished a remarkable proof of the universal spirit of religious intolerance." He receives long discussions of occult science and the nature of light by Robert Miller and Gabriel Crane. Abigail Adams dies, and Jefferson assures John Adams that their own demise will result in "an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved & lost and whom we shall still love and never lose again."

The 580 documents in this volume cover a wide range of fascinating topics. Jefferson receives impressions of a mammoth's tooth, altitude and meteorological observations, a call for a national pharmacopoeia, a discussion of primeval geology, and a letter that elicits Jefferson's opinion that cognition exists "in animal bodies certainly, in Vegetables probably, in Minerals not impossibly." Jefferson leases his Tufton and Lego plantations to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The directors of the Rivanna Company rebut Jefferson's 1817 bill of complaint and he unwittingly ensures his eventual financial ruin by endorsing notes totaling $20,000 for Wilson Cary Nicholas. Jefferson adds to the collections of the American Philosophical Society and writes an extended introduction to the "Anas," a corpus of official papers and political anecdotes documenting his service as George Washington's secretary of state. Jefferson drafts legislation to establish a public education system in Virginia. He attends a Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony for the nascent Central College's first pavilion early in October 1817 and is greatly pleased by the passage on 21 February 1818 of a law establishing a commission to plan a new state university, raising his hopes that Central College might soon become the University of Virginia.

The 637 documents in this volume span 1 February to 31 August 1819. As a founding member of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, Jefferson helps to obtain builders for the infant institution, responds to those seeking professorships, and orchestrates the establishment of a classical preparatory school in Charlottesville. In a letter to Vine Utley, Jefferson details his daily regimen of a largely vegetarian diet, bathing his feet in cold water each morning, and horseback riding. Continuing to indulge his wide-ranging intellectual interests, Jefferson receives publications on the proper pronunciation of Greek and discusses the subject himself in a letter to John Adams. Jefferson also experiences worrying and painful events, including hailstorm damage at his Poplar Forest estate, a fire in the North Pavilion at Monticello, the illness of his slave Burwell Colbert, and a fracas in which Jefferson's grandson-in-law Charles Bankhead stabs Jefferson's grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph on court day in Charlottesville. Worst of all, Jefferson's financial problems greatly increase when the bankruptcy of his friend Wilson Cary Nicholas leaves Jefferson responsible for $20,000 in notes he had endorsed for Nicholas.

Volume Nine of the project documenting Thomas Jefferson's last years presents 523 documents from 1 September 1815 to 30 April 1816. In this period, Jefferson makes three trips to Poplar Forest. During two visits to the Peaks of Otter, he measures their altitude and his calculations are reprinted in several newspapers. Jefferson welcomes the returning war hero Andrew Jackson in a visit to Poplar Forest and offers a toast at a public dinner in Lynchburg held in the general's honor. With the end of the War of 1812, Jefferson uses European contacts to begin restocking his wine cellar and refilling his bookshelves. In a draft letter to Horatio G. Spafford, Jefferson indulges in a "tirade" against a pamphlet by a New England clergyman. Jefferson decides to drop the section from the letter but sends it to "Richmond Enquirer" publisher Thomas Ritchie with permission to publish it without Jefferson's name. An anonymous letter in the "Washington Daily National Intelligencer" on the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution elicits a similarly anonymous response from Jefferson. His family circle grows with the birth of a great-granddaughter. Despite a report of his death, Jefferson continues to enjoy perfect health.

The definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death continues with Volume Two, which covers the period from 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810. Both incoming and outgoing letters are included, totaling 518 documents printed in full. General themes include Jefferson's financial troubles, which eventually led him to loan himself a large sum of money he was managing for Tadeusz Kosciuszko; his preparations to face a lawsuit stemming from his decision as president to remove Edward Livingston from a valuable property in New Orleans; other legal complications involving his landholdings and the settlement of estates he had inherited long before; his plans to breed merino sheep and share them gratis with his fellow Virginians; and his ongoing interest in the Republican party's success.

Highlights include a long list of books on agriculture that Jefferson probably compiled to guide the Library of Congress in its purchases; descriptions of inventions by Robert Fulton and more obscure figures such as the New Orleans engineer Godefroi Du Jareau; Jefferson's draft letter criticizing the Quakers as unpatriotic, much of which he later deleted; the letter in which he ordered a set of silver tumblers that have become known as the Jefferson Cups; and an important treatise on taxation by the distinguished French political economist Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, published here for the first time.

The 618 documents in this volume span 1 September 1819 to 31 May 1820. Jefferson suffers from a "colic," recovery from which requires extensive rest and medication. He spends much time dealing with the immediate effects of the $20,000 addition to his debts resulting from his endorsement of notes for the bankrupt Wilson Cary Nicholas. Jefferson begins to correspond with his carpenter, the enslaved John Hemmings, as Hemmings undertakes maintenance and construction work at Poplar Forest. Jefferson and his allies in the state legislature obtain authorization for a $60,000 loan for the fledgling University of Virginia, the need for which becomes painfully clear when university workmen complain that they have not been paid during seven months of construction work. In the spring of 1820, following congressional discussion leading to the Missouri Compromise, Jefferson writes that the debate, "like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror," and that with regard to slavery, Americans have "the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go."

These volumes, the fourth and fifth, complete the series of biographical sketches of students at Princeton University (the College of New Jersey in colonial times). They cover pivotal years for both the nation and the College. In 1784, the war with England had just ended. Nassau Hall was still in a shambles following its bombardment, and the College was in financial distress. It gradually regained financial and academic strength, and the Class of 1794 graduated in the year of the death of President John Witherspoon, one of the most important early American educators. The introductory essay by John Murrin, editor of the series since 1981, explores the postwar context of the College. The two volumes contain biographies of 354 men who attended with the classes of 1784 through 1794 and two other students whose presence at the College in earlier years has only now been demonstrated. During these years Princeton accounted for about an eighth of all A.B. degrees granted in the United States. It was the young republic's most "national" college, although it had nearly lost its New England constituency and was instead beginning to draw nearly 40 percent of its students from the South. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The 558 documents in this volume cover the period from 1 May 1816 to 18 January 1817. During this time, Jefferson expects political upheaval in Great Britain, welcomes the imminent presidential transition from James Madison to James Monroe, and privately suggests substantial amendments to Virginia's constitution. Jefferson occasionally gives legal advice, including an opinion on whether perjury can be committed before a grand jury. He turns down a request to sell Natural Bridge, calculates the latitude of Poplar Forest and Willis's Mountain, receives a large shipment of foreign books, exchanges the last of a series of letters with Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, and is appointed a visitor of Central College. As before, sojourners flock to Monticello. The Baron de Montlezun and Francis Hall provide informative accounts of Jefferson's home, way of life, and thoughts on many subjects. Jefferson attempts to bring Destutt de Tracy's "Treatise on Political Economy" into print, offers biographical information for "Delaplaine's Repository," and recommends revisions to a forthcoming biography of Patrick Henry. Jefferson and Francis Adrian Van der Kemp trade letters about Jesus's life and teachings, and after the ailing Charles Thomson circulates the mistaken idea that Jefferson has converted to Christianity, correspondents question him about his spiritual beliefs.

Volume Six of the definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death presents 516 documents from 11 March to 27 November 1813. Although free from the cares of government, Jefferson cannot disassociate himself from politics entirely. He recommends to President James Madison during the War of 1812 that gunboats be used to protect the Chesapeake Bay, and writes to his congressional son-in-law, John Wayles Eppes, urging the repayment of the national debt and the reining in of the American banking system. Jefferson remains active and healthy, making trips to his beloved Poplar Forest estate, entertaining visitors at Monticello, and happily supervising the education of his grandchildren and other relations. His correspondence shows no signs of abating--he writes to John Waldo and John Wilson to discuss the improvement of English orthography, addresses Isaac McPherson as part of a plea for limits on government-sanctioned intellectual-property rights, and provides a study of Meriwether Lewis for Nicholas Biddle's "History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark." Finally, this volume records the most intense period of correspondence between Jefferson and John Adams during their retirement. In an exchange of thirty-one letters, the two men reveal their hopes and fears for the nation.

These volumes, the fourth and fifth, complete the series of biographical sketches of students at Princeton University (the College of New Jersey in colonial times). They cover pivotal years for both the nation and the College. In 1784, the war with England had just ended. Nassau Hall was still in a shambles following its bombardment, and the College was in financial distress. It gradually regained financial and academic strength, and the Class of 1794 graduated in the year of the death of President John Witherspoon, one of the most important early American educators.

The introductory essay by John Murrin, editor of the series since 1981, explores the postwar context of the College. The two volumes contain biographies of 354 men who attended with the classes of 1784 through 1794 and two other students whose presence at the College in earlier years has only now been demonstrated. During these years Princeton accounted for about an eighth of all A.B. degrees granted in the United States. It was the young republic's most "national" college, although it had nearly lost its New England constituency and was instead beginning to draw nearly 40 percent of its students from the South.

Originally published in 1991.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Volume Three of the definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death presents 567 documents covering the period from 12 August 1810 to 17 June 1811. Jefferson is now firmly ensconced in retirement at Monticello and Poplar Forest. He is not free from legal and political concerns, however, with the controversy over the 1807 federal seizure of the Batture Sainte Marie at New Orleans looming particularly large. Jefferson prepares for his defense against Edward Livingston's lawsuit by corresponding at length with his counsel and involved public officials, and seeking out documents and legal authorities to vindicate himself. He also seeks to end Philadelphia journalist William Duane's growing estrangement from mainstream Republican politics, lobbies for the appointment of a committed Republican to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, and argues with the Rivanna Company over its proposed encroachments on his property. Other highlights are Jefferson's draft constitution for an agricultural society, his astronomical calculations, his notes on plantings at Poplar Forest, and his estimate of the cost of shipping flour. Documents on slaves and slavery include discussions of schemes for colonizing freed slaves in Africa, information on the medical condition of some of Jefferson's slaves, and an account of a visit to Monticello with a distinctly unflattering portrayal of the ex-president's standing in the community and his relations with his slaves.

This volume inaugurates the definitive edition of papers from Thomas Jefferson's retirement. As the volume opens, a new president is installed and Jefferson is anticipating his return to Virginia, where he will pursue a fascinating range of personal and intellectual activities. He prepares for his final departure from Washington by settling accounts and borrowing to pay his creditors. At Monticello he tells of his efforts to restore order at his mismanaged mill complex, breed merino sheep, and otherwise resume full control of his financial and agricultural affairs.

Though he is entering retirement, he still has one foot firmly planted in the world of public affairs. He acknowledges a flood of accolades on his retirement and has frequent exchanges with President James Madison. While fielding written requests for money, favors, and advice from a kaleidoscopic array of relatives, acquaintances, strangers, cranks, anonymous writers, and a blackmailer, he maintains a wide and varied correspondence with scientists and scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.

The volume's highlights include first-hand accounts of Jefferson's demeanor at his successor's inauguration and one of the most detailed descriptions of life at Monticello by a visitor; Jefferson's recommendations on book purchases to a literary club and a teacher; chemical analyses of tobacco by a French scientist that first isolated nicotine; the earliest descriptions of the death of Meriwether Lewis; one of Jefferson's most eloquent calls for religious tolerance; and his modest assessment of the value of his writings in reply to a printer interested in publishing them.

Volume Four of this definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death includes 581 documents from 18 June 1811 to 30 April 1812. Between these two dates, Jefferson famously declares that, "tho' an old man, I am but a young gardener"; expresses hostility to dogs and joins in a petition for a tax to reduce their numbers; calculates lines for a horizontal sundial; surveys part of his Bedford County estate; and draws up work schedules for his Poplar Forest plantation and detailed slave lists for Poplar Forest and Monticello. Jefferson also takes readings of a solar eclipse; attempts to determine Monticello's longitude; measures Willis Mountain; and calls for a fixed international standard for measures, weights, and coins. Joseph Milligan publishes a revised edition of Jefferson's "Manual of Parliamentary Practice" in March 1812, and Jefferson sends William Wirt a detailed and colorful but largely negative portrait of Patrick Henry for use in his biography of the Virginia orator. Finally, and perhaps of greatest importance to posterity, in January 1812 correspondence resumes between Jefferson and his old friend John Adams, after a long hiatus resulting from their rivalry for the presidency in 1800.

Volume Five of the definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death includes 592 documents from 1 May 1812 to 10 March 1813. America declares war on Great Britain on 18 June 1812. Jefferson counsels domestic reconciliation while suggesting that America recruit British incendiaries to burn London if British ships attack American cities. He passes on to President James Madison a long and discouraging letter from Isaac A. Coles describing American military bungling in the Niagara Campaign. An unofficial proposal that Jefferson return to public life as secretary of state does not gain the retired statesman's support. Jefferson receives many requests for governmental patronage, responds insightfully to a colorful assortment of authors and inventors, is mildly diverted by a fraudulent perpetual-motion machine, and spends considerable time on legal troubles. A dispute with David Michie over land in Albemarle County nearly leads to a duel between Michie and Jefferson's agent. A conflict with Samuel Scott over property in Campbell County further vexes Jefferson, who prepares an extensively researched answer to Scott's complaint. Despite the conflict, Jefferson graciously writes a letter of introduction for Scott's son. Jefferson remains accessible to the public, receives anonymous letters urging him to convert to Christianity, and settles a wager for one correspondent who asks if Jefferson ever met the British king. Jefferson gloomily observes that "the hand of age is upon me" and complains that his faculties are failing. He still has thirteen years to live.