Notes on the State of Virginia - Softcover

Jefferson, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1420933795 ISBN 13: 9781420933796

Publisher: Digireads.com, 2009

Synopsis

"Notes on the State of Virginia" was the only full-length book by Thomas Jefferson published during his lifetime. Having been first published anonymously in a private printing in Paris in 1784, "Notes on the State of Virginia" was later made available to the general public in a 1787 printing in England. Considered one of the most important American books published before the turn of the 19th century, the book deals extensively with important political, legal, and constitutional principles such as the separation of church and state, constitutional government, checks and balances, and individual liberty. "Notes on the State of Virginia" is essentially a discussion of what constitutes "good society", which Jefferson believed Virginia to be an example of. Filled with an extensive compilation of data this work represents an important primary source from one the most important American figures to ever have lived.

About this title

Review:

"This is a Bedford book that is long overdue, and David Waldstreicher is a superb choice as editor. This new edition of Notes on the State of Virginia is informed by the more recent scholarship on Jefferson, which the editor knows cold, and it will attract a substantial audience among college teachers, yours truly included."

From the Back Cover:

A request in 1780 by the French legation to the United States to learn more about the newly formed thirteen states of America stimulated in Jefferson, as he later described it, a "mysterious obligation for making me much better acquainted with my own country than I ever was before". Written during his first term as governor of Virginia, Notes on the State of Virginia is at once a scientific discourse, an attempt to define America, and an examination of the idea of freedom. With the same genius and clear, flexible prose style that informs the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson chronicles Virginia's natural, social, and political history. In his introduction to this annotated edition, which discusses the work's origins and composition, Frank Shuffelton focuses particularly on Jefferson's response to contemporary scientific writings on "New World degeneracy", his differing treatment of blacks and Native Americans, and his influential role in creating a mythicized American self-image.

About this edition

• Publisher: Digireads.com
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1420933795
• ISBN 13: 9781420933796
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128