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Sources Cited in
Thomas Jefferson's Library: A Catalog with the Entries in His Own Order

edited by
James Gilreath and Douglas L. Wilson

Table of Contents   |   Catalog record and links to related information from the Library of Congress catalog

	
Selected Reading List

   The richest source of information on the library Jefferson sold to Congress
in 1815 is the monumental compilation by E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of
the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 5 vols. (Washington: Library of Congress, 1952-
59). Begun as a straightforward listing of the books, the project grew to encom-
pass full bibliographical descriptions, annotations regarding the circumstances
of acquisitions and other matters, and extensive quotations from Jefferson's cor-
respondence on relevant books and authors. Under the auspices of the Thomas
Jefferson Memorial Foundation, this invaluable catalog has been reprinted by
the University Press of Virginia (1983).

   In spite of its many virtues, Sowerby's catalog does have limitations and
shortcomings that can present serious problems for the unwary student of Jef-
ferson's library. These are described and discussed in two articles by the present
editors: James Gilreath, "Sowerby Revirescent and Revised," Papers of the Bib-
liographical Society of America 78 (1984): 19-32; and Douglas L. Wilson, "Sow-
erby Revisited: The Unfinished Catalogue of Jefferson's Library," William and
Mary Quarterly, 3d series, 41 (1984): 615-28.

   An essay that deals comprehensively with all of Jefferson's libraries is Doug-
las L. Wilson, "Jefferson's Library," in Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography,
ed. Merrill D. Peterson (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1986), 157-80.

   The most detailed and well-documented account of the sale and transfer of
Jefferson's library to Congress, with pertinent information on Librarian Watter-
ston and the 1815 catalog, is William Dawson Johnston, History of the Library
of Congress (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1904), 68-104. Du-
mas Malone's chapter, "Books in Transit: The Library of Congress," on pages
169-84 of The Sage of Monticello (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1981),
is a readable and readily available account of the transfer. Also interesting is
Thomas Jefferson and the World of Books, from a symposium held at the Library
of Congress on September 21, 1976, which includes comments by Daniel Boor-
stin, Dumas Malone, Frederick Goff, and Merrill Peterson.

   A valuable study of Jefferson as a library classifier is Leo E. LaMontagne,
American Library Classification, with Special Reference to the Library of Congress
(Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1961), 27-60. Finally, an admirable discus-
sion of Jefferson's use of a significant portion of his library is H. Trevor Col-
bourn's essay "Thomas Jefferson's Use of the Past," in the William and Mary
Quarterly, 3d series, 15 (1958): 56-70.			

Table of Contents   |   Catalog record and links to related information from the Library of Congress catalog

Go to: Thomas Jefferson: an American Man for All Seasons
             Man of Learning, Culture and Science      |      Main Page

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