Commonplace Book Research

The first commonplace book that was of use to me was written in 1717. The topics are:

• Advice to a Daughter
• The Character of a Trimmer
• The Anatomy of an Equivalent
• A Letter to a Dissenter
• Cautions for Choice of Parliamentmen
• A Rough Draught of a New Model at Sea

These are quite random topics, but I think they give a good glimpse into the life of a Lord in the first half of the 18th century.

Finding a criticism is hard for the 1700's. I searched by title and subject, "commonplace book," and I also added the words "read*" and "miscellany." Only one option came up, but it is not currently at UMD. A source called "Jeu d'esprit" was a collection of poems and plays and manuscripts. The problem is that it is only at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

I ended up finding Thomas Jefferson's Scrapbooks. This is a commonplace book written by Thomas Jefferson and it has a commentary by Jonathan Gross.