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

ISBN-13: 9781584778240; ISBN-10: 1584778245. Recreating a Lost Masterpiece: The Definitive Reconstruction of Thomas Jefferson's Library Catalog Gilreath, James, and Douglas L. Wilson, Editors. Thomas Jefferson's Library: A Catalog with the Entries in His Own Order. Washington: Library of Congress. 1989. Octavo. 9" x 7". [x], 149 pp. Reprint Clark, New Jersey: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2010. ISBN-13: 9781584778240. Smyth-sewn brown cloth with gilt stamped front cover and spine. New. $75. * This volume represents a meticulous reconstruction of one of the most historically significant book collections in American history. In 1815, Thomas Jefferson sold his personal library of approximately 6,700 volumes to the Library of Congress to replace the national collection famously burned by British forces during the War of 1812. While Jefferson's collection was widely considered one of the finest in the United States, the taxonomically arranged catalog that originally accompanied these books was tragically lost to history. Utilizing Jefferson's surviving personal notes and the first edition of the official Library of Congress catalog, editors James Gilreath and Douglas L. Wilson successfully recreated Jefferson's original compilation. The catalog offers profound insight into the systematic, Enlightenment-era organization of Jefferson's intellect. Notably, a vast collection of legal texts is housed under the broad, overarching philosophical taxonomy of "Reason," which Jefferson subdivided into "Philosophy." This section begins with foundational moral categories-including Ethics, Moral Philosophy, the Law of Nature and Nations, and Religion-before transitioning into highly specialized legal disciplines such as Common Law, Maritime Law, and Foreign Law. This reprint serves as an indispensable primary resource for understanding the development of Jefferson's legal philosophy, as well as an authoritative bibliographic guide to the essential titles comprising a premier American law library of the early republic.…