Recent clues led two Monticello scholars to contact Washington University Libraries’ Rare Book Curator Erin Davis. They had reason to believe that numerous books from Thomas Jefferson's personal library might be in the collections of Washington University Libraries. Eventually some 74 books held in the Libraries' rare books collections were identified as having belonged to Jefferson. This discovery was publicly announced on Presidents Day: February 21, 2011.
The history behind the discovery comes to life in this detailed timeline of events, family relationships, and shifting libraries.
Learn more about this exciting development in The New York Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on the Today show and St. Louis Public Radio, and from the other linked news stories listed below.
- Washington University Record (includes a video)
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Weatherbird article)
- News Tribune
- Riverfront Times
- The Huffington Post
- Monticello.org: A Find of a Lifetime
View a catalog listing of the Libraries' Jefferson items. Click on any of the 28 titles (some of which are multi-volume sets) to see more detailed information, including a notation of Jefferson's ownership. More than 70 of these books were identified in early 2011 as having been Jefferson's.
Comments