Scholars Say University of Virginia
Scrapbooks Belonged to Jefferson
Scrapbooks in the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library, for years thought to be the work of Thomas Jefferson’s grandchildren, were apparently compiled by the third president of the United States himself. Led by a history professor who stumbled on the scrapbooks this summer, scholars now believe the six-by-nine-inch “commonplace books,” as they were once known, may offer new insights into Jefferson’s life and presidency.
Robert M. S. McDonald, a history professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, examined the scrapbooks while doing research as a fellow at Monticello. “I was stunned,” he said in the September 29 Richmond Times-Dispatch. “I realized that they not only belonged to Jefferson but also that they were Jefferson’s creation.” A number of noted Jefferson scholars now concur with McDonald’s assessment.
Consisting mainly of newspaper clippings, the four leather-bound volumes reveal a sentimental and humorous side of Jefferson through notations in his handwriting.
Posted October 4, 1999.
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