Jefferson Abroad (Modern Library)

In July 1784, Thomas Jefferson, recently appointed to represent the American Congress in Paris, sailed from Boston with his daughter Martha, bound for France. Jefferson was eventually installed in a house on the Champs-Elysées, where he set about enjoying the special attractions of Paris. He went to galleries and concerts and entertained widely; he made note of the urban engineering and the beauty of Parisian architecture; and he browsed assiduously in local bookstores. Jefferson also made trips around the country and across western Europe, all the while taking notes on what he saw: the soil, crops, livestock, buildings, wine, and local politics and customs. Fortunately, Jefferson, who was to become the third president of the United States in 1801, recorded his impressions in his voluminous correspondence and journals. He wrote to Abigail and John Adams, James Madison, George Washington, and also to a number of women friends and his children, so a variety of styles and levels of intimacy adds to the fascination of these accounts. This volume has been selected from Jeffer- son's letters by Douglas L. Wilson and Lucia Stanton, scholars of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, who have provided a Preface and Notes. In the opinion of the editors, the five years that Jefferson spent in France were arguably the most memorable of his life. "By the time he returned to America in 1789," they write, "Paris--with its music, its architecture, its savants and salons, its leanings and enlightenments, not to mention its elegant social life and distinctive sexual mores--had worked its enchantments on this rigidly self-controlled Virginia gentleman, and had stimulated him to say and do and write remarkable things."
ASIN: 0679603190
VSKU: BVV.0679603190.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Jefferson, Thomas
Binding: Hardcover
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Former library book with the usual stamps, stickers and labels. The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.