Thomas Jefferson's Library and the Skipwith List

Robert Skipwith never became famous, but he did one thing to secure a permanent place in American history: in 1771 he persuaded his prospective brother-in-law, Thomas Jefferson, to draw up a list of recommended books with which to form a library. The catalogue of 148 titles that Jefferson subsequently produced, known as the Skipwith list, has become a significant document not only in Jefferson studies but in American cultural history. To gauge what enlightened Americans were reading on the eve of the Revolution, whether in literature or politics or religion or natural history, scholars have been able to consult the list of books recommended to Robert Skipwith by a young reader about to establish himself as one of the most cultivated and consequential men of his time.