JF Ptak Science Books Post 2080
In 1771 Thomas Jefferson replied to a letter written to him by Robert Skipwith, the brother-in-law of Martha Wayles Skelton (who Jefferson would marry in the next year) outlining what he thought to be essential reading for the generally-cultured reader. Skipwith wrote for a list of books "suited to the capacity
of a common reader who understands but little of the classicks and who
has not leisure for any intricate or tedious study. Let them be
improving as well as amusing and among the rest let there be Hume's
history of England, the new edition of Shakespear, the short Roman history you mentioned and all Sterne's works."
[Jefferson's copy of Volataire's Philosophical Dictionary--a thinker much in his mind.]
Jefferson responded with the following list, published at the very useful Monticello.org site (The same site offers an interesting reading list for Jefferson and his world, arranged by category, here.) It was a time of both big change and settling-in for Jefferson--aged 28, a newish lawyer, just coming into practice in 1767, just inheriting his father's estate in 1764, just moving into newly-built Monticello in 1770, and marrying in the next year--and he gave the question a good strong thinking. His list is of course very interesting: the books are loosely arranged under a few broad categories, and are listed mostly by author and a bit of the title, followed usually by the size of the book ("8vo" is, basically, what we would think of as a standard-sized book; "12mo" is about the size of a paperback; "4to" is a taller, wider book; "fol" is a folio, sort of in the atlas-size), an occasional price, and also some occasional publishing data. The leading category of book by far is the "fine arts", which occupies well more than half of the entire list.
It is interesting to note that Jefferson has only eight titles in the politics/trade/economics section, and has seven in the "criticism of the fine arts" area, which includes Hogarth's book on the analysis of beauty (strange and compelling to the non-artist like myself), and the newish Johnson's dictionary (published first in 1755), the big two-volume work purchased by Jefferson for 3 pounds.
It might also be interesting to have a look at the Library of Congress exhibition of Thomas Jefferson's library (from 2008),
here.
FINE ARTS.
Observations on gardening.
Payne.
5/
Actually this is published by Payne; the book is
Observations on Modern Gardening: Illustrated by Descriptions and written by Thomas Whately.
Webb’s essay on painting.
12
mo
3/
Pope’s Iliad.
18/
------- Odyssey.
15/
Dryden’s Virgil.
12
mo.
12/
Milton’s works.
2 v.
8
vo.
Donaldson.
Edinburgh
1762.
10/
Hoole’s Tasso.
12
mo.
5/
Ossian with Blair’s criticisms.
2 v.
8
vo.
10/
Telemachus by Dodsley.
6/
Capell’s Shakespear.
12
mo.
30/
Dryden’s plays.
6 v.
12
mo.
18/
Addison’s plays.
12
mo.
3/
Otway’s plays.
3 v.
12
mo.
9/
Rowe’s works.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Thompson’s works.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Young’s works.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Home’s plays.
12
mo.
3/
Mallet’s works.
3 v.
12
mo.
9/
Mason’s poetical works.
5/
Terence.
Eng.
3/
Farquhar’s plays.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Vanbrugh’s plays.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Steele’s plays.
3/
Congreve’s works.
3 v.
12
mo.
9/
Garric’s dramatic works.
2 v.
8
vo.
10/
Foote’s dramatic works.
2 v.
8
vo.
10/
Rousseau’s Eloisa.
Eng.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
---------- Emilius and Sophia.
Eng.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Marmontel's moral tales.
Eng.
2 v.
12
mo.
9/
Gil Blas. by Smollett.
6/
Don Quixot. by Smollett
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
David Simple.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
|
Roderic Random.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
|
 |
these were written by Smollett.
|
|
Peregrine Pickle.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
|
|
Launcelot Graves.
6/
|
|
Adventures of a guinea.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
|
|
Pamela.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
|
|
these are by Richardson.
|
|
Clarissa.
8 v.
12
mo.
24/
|
|
Grandison.
7 v.
12
mo.
21/
|
|
Fool of quality.
3 v.
12
mo.
9/
|
Feilding’s works.
12 v.
12
mo.
£
1.16
|
Constantia.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
|
|
by Langhorne.
|
|
Solyman and Almena.
12
mo.
3/
|
Belle assemblee.
4 v.
12
mo
.
12/
Vicar of Wakefeild.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/. by Dr. Goldsmith
Sidney Bidulph.
5 v.
12
mo.
15/
Lady Julia Mandeville.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Almoran and Hamet.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Tristam Shandy.
9 v.
12
mo.
£
1.7
Sentimental journey.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Fragments of antient poetry.
Edinburgh.
2/
Percy’s Runic poems.
3/
Percy’s reliques of antient English poetry.
3 v.
12
mo.
9/
Percy’s Han Kiou Chouan.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Percy’s Miscellaneous Chinese peices.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Chaucer.
10/
Spencer.
6 v.
12
mo.
15/
Waller’s poems.
12
mo.
3/
Dodsley’s collection of poems.
6 v.
12
mo.
18/
Pearch’s collection of poems.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Gray’s works.
5/
Ogilvie’s poems.
5/
Prior’s poems.
2 v.
12
mo.
Foulis.
6/
Gay’s works.
12
mo.
Foulis.
3/
Shenstone’s works.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Dryden’s works.
4 v.
12
mo.
Foulis.
12/
Pope’s works. by Warburton.
12
mo.
£
1.4
Churchill’s poems.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Hudibrass.
3/
Swift’s works.
21 v.
small 8
vo.
£
3.3
Swift’s literary correspondence.
3 v.
9/
Spectator.
9 v.
12
mo.
£
1.7
Tatler.
5 v.
12
mo.
15/
Guardian.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Freeholder.
12
mo.
3/
Ld. Lyttleton’s Persian letters.
12
mo.
3/
CRITICISM ON THE FINE ARTS.
Ld. Kaim’s elements of criticism.
2 v.
8
vo.
10/
Burke on the sublime and beautiful.
8
vo.
5/
Hogarth’s analysis of beauty.
4
to.
£
1.1
Reid on the human mind.
8
vo.
5/
Smith’s theory of moral sentiments.
8
vo.
5/
Johnson’s dictionary.
2 v.
fol. £
3
Capell’s prolusions.
12
mo.
3/
POLITICKS, TRADE.
Montesquieu’s spirit of the laws.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Locke on government.
8
vo.
5/
Sidney on government.
4
to.
15/
Marmontel’s Belisarius.
12
mo.
Eng.
3/
Ld. Bolingbroke’s political works.
5 v.
8
vo.
£
1.5
Montesquieu’s rise & fall of the Roman governmt.
12
mo.
3/
Steuart’s Political oeconomy.
2 v.
4
to.
£
1.10
Petty’s Political arithmetic.
8
vo.
5/
RELIGION.
Locke’s conduct of the mind in search of truth.
12
mo.
3/
Xenophon’s memoirs of Socrates. by Feilding.
8
vo.
5/
Epictetus. by Mrs. Carter.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Antoninus by Collins.
3/
Seneca. by L’Estrange.
8
vo.
5/
Cicero’s Offices. by Guthrie.
8
vo.
5/
Cicero’s Tusculan questions.
Eng.
3/
Ld. Bolingbroke’s Philosophical works.
5 v.
8
vo.
£
1.5
Hume’s essays.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Ld. Kaim’s Natural religion.
8
vo.
6/
Philosophical survey of Nature.
3/
Oeconomy of human life.
2/
Sterne’s sermons.
7 v.
12
mo.
£
1.1
Sherlock on death.
8
vo.
5/
Sherlock on a future state.
5/
LAW.
Ld. Kaim’s Principles of equity.
fol. £
1.1
Blackstone’s Commentaries.
4 v.
4
to.
£
4.4
Cuningham’s Law dictionary.
2 v.
fol. £
3
HISTORY. ANTIENT.
Bible.
6/
Rollin’s Antient history.
Eng.
13 v.
12
mo.
£
1.19
Stanyan’s Graecian history.
2 v.
8
vo.
10/
Livy. (the late translation).
12/
Sallust by Gordon.
12
mo.
12/
Tacitus by Gordon.
12
mo.
15/
Caesar by Bladen.
8
vo.
5/
Josephus.
Eng.
1.0
Vertot’s Revolutions of Rome.
Eng.
9/
Plutarch’s lives. by Langhorne.
6 v.
8
vo.
£
1.10
Bayle’s Dictionary.
5 v.
fol. £
7.10.
Jeffery’s Historical & Chronological chart.
15/
HISTORY. MODERN.
Robertson’s History of Charles the Vth.
3 v.
4
to.
£
3.3
Bossuet’s history of France.
4 v.
12
mo.
12/
Davila. by Farneworth.
2 v.
4
to.
£
1.10.
Hume’s history of England.
8 v.
8
vo.
£
2.8.
Clarendon’s history of the rebellion.
6 v.
8
vo.
£
1.10.
Robertson’s history of Scotland.
2 v.
8
vo.
12/
Keith’s history of Virginia.
4
to.
12/
Stith’s history of Virginia.
6/
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. NATURAL HISTORY &c.
Nature displayed.
Eng.
7 v.
12
mo.
Franklin on Electricity.
4
to.
10/
Macqueer’s elements of Chemistry.
2 v.
8
vo.
10/
Home’s principles of agriculture.
8
vo.
5/
Tull’s horse-hoeing husbandry.
8
vo.
5/
Duhamel’s husbandry.
4
to.
15/
Millar’s Gardener’s dict.
fol. £
2.10.
Buffon’s natural history.
Eng. £
2.10.
A compendium of Physic & Surgery.
Nourse.
12
mo.
1765.
3/
Addison’s travels.
12
mo.
3/
Anson’s voiage.
8
vo.
6/
Thompson’s travels.
2 v.
12
mo.
6/
Lady M. W. Montague’s letters.
3 v.
12
mo.
9/
MISCELLANEOUS.
Ld. Lyttleton’s dialogues of the dead.
8
vo.
5/
Fenelon’s dialogues of the dead.
Eng.
12
mo.
3/
Voltaire’s works.
Eng. £
4.
Locke on Education.
12
mo.
3/
Owen’s Dict. of arts & sciences
4 v.
8
vo.
£
2.
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