The Life Of Thomas Jefferson . Two Volumes

Charles Knight And Co., 1837. Hardcover. Very Good. A very nice set of First Printings -- printed simultaneously in London and Philadelphia . This set was printed in London . Tucker was a Professor at Jefferson's University of Virginia . He had been recommended for his position at the University by James Madison . In volume one of this work he prints his letter to Madison sending him a copy of this manuscript and Madison's favorable response . Tucker had previously published , anonomously , a negative assessment of Jefferson's description of African slaves in the south in his NOTES ON VIRGINIA . Apparently , neither Jefferson nor Madison were aware of this previous publication . See Allan Taylor's THOMAS JEFFERSON'S EDUCATION on this point and more on Tucker . Tucker's work published in these two volumes is generally viewed as the first biography of Jefferson . There are two other , significant , early biographical treatments of Jefferson but neither is as comprehensive as Tucker's work . See R. Phillips , , PUBLIC CHARACTERS 1800 - 1801 ( London , 1801 ) and Theodore Dwight , THE CHARACTER OF THOMAS JEFFERSON ( Boston , 1839 ) . This copy of Tucker's work has been rebound in leather with five ribs and gold graphics on the spines .The result is beautiful , tight bindings . There is a large chip to the leather at the top of the spine of volume one . Otherwise , the leather is in good condition . The graphics on the spine remain bright . The textblocks are in remarkably good condition . There is a very faint mark of the stamp of a previous owner at the bottom of the title page of each volume . There are no other marks in the books . All material is present , including the frontispiece portrait of Jefferson with tissue guard . This set would make an attractive addition to the library of any collector of Jefferson material .