University of Virginia Library. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Preface to the Online Edition

From the earliest days of its interest in special collections, the University of Virginia Library has given much attention to the writings and letters of Thomas Jefferson, the founder of the University.

The online edition of A Calendar of The Jefferson Papers of the University of Virginia combines into one chronological sequence the original 1950 calendar compiled by Constance Thurlow and Francis Berkeley and the 1973 supplement compiled by Anne Freudenberg and John Casteen. All Jefferson items in the possession of the University of Virginia Library are now included; new entries are added as additional Jefferson items are acquired by the Library.

The Calendar contains entries for all letters and documents in our collections written by or to Jefferson; letters docketed by Jefferson; 19th century copies of Jefferson letters transcribed by family members; photomechanical reproductions of some privately-held Jefferson letters, and of some Jefferson letters in other institutions (most notably the correspondence with Tadeusz Kosciuszko in the National Museum of Krakow, Poland), which are inaccessible to most researchers; and the Peter Jefferson documents held by the Library.

In updating the Calendar we retained the basic format of the earlier printed versions. A typical entry consists of the name of the writer, the place from which he writes, the name of the recipient, and the place to which the letter is directed, followed by the date of manuscript. This is followed by a brief physical description of the manuscript (e.g. ALS; typescript; 19th century copy, number of pages) and, for entries made between 1950 and 1973, information about the location of other copies and citations to printed versions. We have made no attempt to supplement entries for materials acquired since 1970 with notes on the location of other copies or additional citations of printed versions. The name of the University of Virginia Library collection of which the manuscript is a part and the collection's accession number are also included. The entry concludes with a summary of the text of the manuscript. Entries from the 1950 and 1973 editions are followed by a bracketed number that was assigned for purposes of indexing.

We have made several significant changes to the entries. The word "slave" replaces the word "servant" in all cases where the editors were sure the individual indicated was a slave. All photomechanical reproductions are given the generic label "photostat." Changes in ownership are noted when known. Each of Jefferson's architectural drawings is listed individually with the corresponding "Nichols number" taken from Thomas Jefferson's architectural drawings / compiled and with commentary and a check list by Frederick Doveton Nichols. -- 4th ed. - (Charlottesville : Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1988, c1995.)

For more details about the original compilation of the Calendar, please see the Introduction to the 1950 Edition, below.

Edward Gaynor Ann L. S. Southwell March 2004

Introduction to the 1950 Edition

In preparing this calendar of the University's Jefferson manuscripts, Mrs. Thurlow and I have freely made use of many people's work. Daily reference has been made to our Jefferson Checklist, a chronological card-file of some sixty thousand of Jefferson's manuscripts, and letters to and from him, now known to be extant in public and private libraries, in manuscript and in print. This Checklist was begun by John Cook Wyllie more than fifteen years ago, and has been expanded by many hands, particularly by a former staff member, Mrs. Helen D. Bullock. The Checklist is now being duplicated, expanded, and improved by Julian P. Boyd and the editors associated with him in the Princeton University publication project. Copies of the Checklist in its final form may later be made available at the Library of Congress as well as at the University of Virginia, and I venture to express here the hope that it may be printed for the use of students elsewhere. For it will contain much of value which must doubtless be omitted from publication in the Papers.

The typescript calendar of our Jefferson Papers, prepared by Mrs. Bullock in 1941, has been very useful here and at the Library of Congress, and particularly helpful in preparing the present calendar for publication. Printing costs and other factors have made necessary a more condensed form of entry in the present calendar. Since the preparation of Mrs. Bullock's calendar, which included photostats in our collections, our holdings of original manuscripts have nearly doubled. Photographic copies (more than 10,000 now being available in our reading room) have here been excluded except in a few instances of manuscripts in private hands and county court houses, which in a number of cases are the only known texts.

Researchers are warned that the length of an entry does not necessarily indicate our judgment of the importance of the item. We have attempted to include all names of persons and places. As a result, entries for certain legal documents are disproportionately long. We have tried to mention all major subjects discussed in each letter, but the reader who wants full details will be obliged to consult the original manuscript or order a photographic copy.

Each entry contains two paragraphs, the second of which is a condensed summary of the text of the manuscript, followed by a bracketed number for purposes of indexing. The first paragraph contains all "bibliographical data" about the manuscript and all other texts of it which are known to us from the data recorded and filed in our Jefferson Checklist. Following the date in a typical entry is the name of the writer, the place from which he writes, the name of the recipient, and the place to which the letter is directed. Then follows a symbol (see list below) which tells whether the manuscript is signed and whether or not it is written in the hand of the signer, with a statement of the number of pages in the manuscript. If another text of the manuscript is known to us, this information is then given as explicitly as possible. In some cases we can only say "another manuscript in DLC" (Library of Congress; see list of abbreviations below); often, however, we are able to state that the other manuscript is the recipient's copy, a polygraph copy, a letterpress copy, a file draft, or an extract or copy by another hand, either contemporary or later.

The final statement in each heading concerns known printed versions of the manuscript as recorded in our Jefferson Checklist. Many of the published texts are inaccurate or incomplete, as we indicate when known. All frequently cited publications are referred to by symbols (as listed in the table below) and punctuation is simplified for convenience in printing.

Special attention is invited to the case of "printing" which we indicate by the following oft-recurring expression: "Printed: B of R VI 372 (MS. in DLC)". This means that an abstract of another text of our manuscript (the other text usually being Jefferson's file copy) is to be found in the Calendar of Letters from Jefferson, in the Bulletin of the Bureau of Rolls and Library of the Department of State, No. 6, Washington, 1894-1896 page 372, and that the manuscript so calendared is now in the Library of Congress. Virtually none of the Jefferson manuscripts in the Bureau of Rolls (all of which are now in the Library of Congress) were printed in full in the Calendar which appeared in volumes 6 (letters from Jefferson) and 8 (letters to Jefferson) of the Bulletin. It is hoped that no student will be misled by this type-saving method of entry. All other printings indicated are assumed to be complete unless otherwise stated.

Docketing, and other brief endorsements on letters are indicated simply by the word "endorsed" unless they appear to require special comment. "Endorsed by T. J." indicates that such an endorsement is in Jefferson's autograph. Spelling has normally been corrected outside of direct quotations, and we have never hesitated to expand "Mr. Randolph" to "Thomas Mann Randolph" when the identity is certain. Square brackets have, therefore, been rather sparingly used to supply missing names, facts, and dates in the headings which could be supplied with reasonable certainty. In summarizing the texts of letters and other items, the main object has been brevity rather than any attempt to reproduce the original language. Parentheses have been freely used in the summaries for the provision of explanatory comment.

All manuscripts not otherwise designated are in our general collection of Jefferson Papers. Others are listed in the heading of the entry as being in the McGregor Library (which is the most important of the special libraries constituting the Division of Rare Books and Manuscripts) or in any of our various collections of manuscripts which happen to contain papers of Jefferson, such as the following: the Berkeley Manuscripts, the Cabell Papers, the Carr-Cary Papers, the Cocke Papers, the Edgehill-Randolph Papers, and the Page-Walker Papers. Some of these special collections are not owned by the University, but are on deposit for safekeeping and historical reference. Other privately owned individual manuscripts on deposit are listed with the owner's name. Photographic copies can be provided in most cases, but a few are subject to restrictions stipulated by the owner.

It will be noted that we have included certain manuscripts of Jefferson's father which have some relevancy to the career of the son. In addition to a few special photostats already mentioned, a number of older transcripts of Jefferson's papers have also been included. The most important of these are the copies and extracts made by Martha Jefferson Randolph and her daughters and by Nicholas P. Trist during the decade following Jefferson's death. These and other copies have been identified in the headings. In a considerable number of cases, however, chiefly of copies which appear to have been made by or for members of the family, we have had to fall back on the expression, "19th century copy".

Omitted from this calendar are a number of papers in this library which were once in Jefferson's possession, or closely associated with him, but which were not composed, drafted, or endorsed by him. Such, for example, are the groups of legal papers, 1740-1759, which Robert Carter Nicholas turned over to him as attorney in 1771; a correspondence of the Associates of the late Doctor Bray, 1757-1773, concerning the Negro school at Williamsburg, sponsored by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel; correspondence of Robley Dunglison with Jefferson's biographer, Henry S. Randall; and great numbers of letters by Jefferson's executor and by members of his immediate family which are to be found in the University archives and such of our collections as the Carr-Cary Papers, the Edgehill-Randolph Papers, and the Francis Walker Gilmer Manuscripts. Typical of other materials omitted are an eighteen-page manuscript pedigree of the Jefferson family, compiled by Paul Berghaus, and kept with our Jefferson Papers for the convenience of researchers; memorial addresses following Jefferson's death in 1826; and letters of condolence to his family. A revealing item of Jeffersoniana, omitted here, but shortly-to be published by the library as a separate volume, is the manuscript of the recollections of Isaac Jefferson, a household slave at Monticello, as dictated in old age to the historian, Charles Campbell.

One conspicuous omission which we hope will not be attributed to ingratitude has been that of the names of donors. From 1825 to 1949 we have received from Jefferson himself, from every generation of his descendants, and from a host of admirers of Jefferson and friends of the University, gifts of Jeffersoniana or funds for their acquisition. The addition of donors' names to already elaborate calendar headings, particularly in the group entries covering numerous separate gifts, might, we feel, confuse the student. In our published annual reports we attempt at least to record from year to year the names of the benefactors on whom we rely so heavily for the growth of the collections.

To the Research Council of the Richmond Area University Center we are indebted for the grant-in-aid which has made possible this publication. The courtesy and patience of the Administrator and of the members of the Council in connection with our unavoidable delays in printing are particularly appreciated.

If this work had a dedication, it would be to Harry Clemons, who brought the Manuscript Division into being, whose faith has a way of moving mountains, and to whom all of the daily tasks of our staff are truly dedicated by our admiration and affection.

University of Virginia 1 October 1949 Francis L. Berkeley.

From the guide to the A Calendar of The Jefferson Papers of the University of Virginia, (Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)