[Rarebooks] FS: Catalog of the Library of Thomas Jefferson -5 volumes

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

TITLE: “Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson”

Edited by E. Millicent Sowerby.
Published by the University Press of Virginia in 1983.
Edition limited to 400 sets.

DISCUSSION: The first re-issue of this classic set, first published in
1952. The project to catalog Thomas Jefferson’s library, perhaps the
finest in America in private hands in the first decades of the 19th
century, began in 1942 as the Library of Congress started planning to
celebrate the bicentennial of Jefferson’s birth in 1943. As so often
happens, the project soon took on much larger dimensions, culminating a
decade later with this 5-volume set.

Sowerby had two main records to work from- the 1815 Catalog prepared by
George Watterston of the Library of Congress when Jefferson sold his books
to the Library to replace the original Library, which had been burned by
the British in 1814 during their occupation of Washington. To augment this
there was also a manuscript catalog/notebook in Jefferson’s hand which had
been created over the years as he bought and read his books. The existence
of this record allowed Sowerby to add information to many entries
concerning when, where and for how much he bought the original volumes,
and what he thought of them after he read them.

The five volumes are arranged by topic: Civil History (including ancient,
modern & ecclesiastical) – Natural History (including agriculture,
chemistry, surgery, medicine, anatomy, zoology, botany and mineralogy) –
Philosophy (including ethics, religion, law, politics, mathematics,
astronomy & geography) – The Arts (including architecture, gardening,
music, poetry, dialogue, logic and criticism).

It is quite appropriate that this edition should have been published by
the University of Virginia, an institution founded by Thomas Jefferson in
1819.

DESCRIPTION: 5 volumes. Hardcover. 9”x11.5”, 562 + 433 + 481 + 568 + 442
pages.

CONDITION NOTES: A few minor cover scuffs, minor wear, but otherwise clean
and nice, with tight bindings.

PRICE: $475.00

SOME PICTURES =>

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