Thomas Jefferson's Commonplace Book

What is remarkable about Thomas Jefferson’s commonplace book is the variance of the material therein. Jefferson even has entries written in different languages, supporting his high level of thought and, quite frankly, speaking to his great self discipline and sheer intellectual ability. written in Latin, Greek, English, and French.

While at first glance these materials seem rather strange and unrelated, with further inspection and help from the editor Wilson the passages in this commonplace book demonstrate how deeply Thomas Jefferson considered and documented his research and formulated his arguments on topics of interest. In his book, there are entries from Horace on the joys of country life, as well as those like the first entry by Herodotus on the history of circumcision, both in the original Greek. After reading through the first few articles in his commonplace book, along with the analysis from Wilson, it seems that Jefferson is relating the inception of the circumcision practice relates to the authentic historicity of the Bible, in response to certain authors who Jefferson also includes who have made arguments against the historicity of the Bible. Other writers of the time also seem to have taken this approach and weighed in on the debate themselves. For example, John Brekell of Liverpool published a treatise in 1763 entitled “A dissertation upon the subject of circumcision. containing, An Inquiry into the Original of this Religious Rite; With an Attempt To settle some Points of ancient History and Chronology, by the help of this Medium, in a new Method.” which takes the same approach. The number of authors writing about this subject indicates that this discourse was a fad not just among theologists and religious figures, but among the educated aristocrats at large. It seems that Jefferson had intended to enter this higher level of discourse on research from a very young age

Works Cited

Brekell, John. “A Dissertation upon the Subject of Circumcision. Containing, an Inquiry into the Original of This Religious Rite ; ... By John Brekell.” EBSCO.

Wilson, D. L. Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book. Princeton University Pres, 2016.