Jefferson's Books

Thomas Jefferson once proclaimed, "I cannot live without books"--a dramatic statement, proven irrefutably true as books informed and guided Jefferson's life in a way that had no precedent and few equals among American statesmen. In this enlightening volume, Douglas Wilson, founding Saunders Director of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, examines Jefferson's "canine appetite for reading" and chronicles his passion for building and rebuilding his personal collection, as well as the fledgling nation's congressional library (which he refurbished with his books when it was destroyed by fire in 1814). This work was originally published as "Jefferson's Library" in "Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography," ed. Merrill D. Peterson, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1986.