Thomas Jefferson's Garden Book, 1766-1824

This "Garden Book" contains the most varied entries of all Thomas Jefferson's memorandum books. The book that began as a diary of the garden became a written repository for numerous interests of Jefferson. The entries range from contracts with overseers, plans for building roads and fish ponds, and observations on the greatest flood in Albemarle, to comments on Mrs. Wythe's wine and figures on the number of strawberries in a pint measure. Jefferson's love of nature was so intense that his observant eye caught almost every passing change in it. And whatever he saw rarely escaped being recorded. The varied entries also give us a clue as to his interests in introducing new plants and in improving farming, horticulture, viticulture, and many other aspects of the rural life of his time. These interests at Monticello were also tied up with agricultural and horticultural needs of the U.S. Includes annotations by Edwin Morris Betts. Illus.