John Adams and Thomas Jefferson realized the value of education, of books, and of libraries in a democracy. What is the role of books and reading in the thoughts and actions of Adams and Jefferson? How did they organize their libraries and how familiar were they with the books in them? How did these books inform their roles as founding fathers? This collection of essays, from some of today's premier historians of Adams and Jefferson celebrates these two founding fathers and the importance of books and libraries in America.
Robert C. Baronis the former chairman of the American Antiquarian Society and a director of several library and conservation organizations. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books, includingPioneers and Plodders: The American Entrepreneurial Spirit,What Was It Like Orville: The Early Space Program,The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson,John Adams: In His Own WordsandThe Light Shines from the West: A Western Perspective on the Growth of America.
Conrad Edick Wrightis the Ford Editor of Publications and director of research at the Massachusetts Historical Society. He is the author or coauthor of three books, the editor or coeditor of eight volumes, the editor of theMassachusetts Historical Review, and the lead scholar ofSibley's Harvard Graduates. he is a graduate of Harvard College and Brown University.