Thomas Jefferson
1783 Catalog of Books, [manuscript], [circa 1775-1812]
From the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jefferson's Classification Scheme for the 1783 Catalog of Books
Jefferson arranged his 1783 Catalog of Books into three sections--History, Philosophy, and Fine Arts--adapted from Francis Bacon's three categories of knowledge: Memory, Reason, and Imagination. Within Jefferson's three main divisions, he subdivided his catalog into 46 chapters.
Jefferson outlined his classification scheme on pages 10, 11, and 12 of the 1783 Catalog of Books.
Below is a list of the chapters and subject categories that Jefferson used in his catalog, with links to the corresponding pages. Occasionally a chapter starts on an odd-numbered page, but continues on the facing page preceding it. For example, Chapter 25, "Commerce," starts on page 153 but continues on page 152. To assist in navigation, directional notes and links have been added to such pages.
History |
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Chap. 1
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Antient [Ancient] history
|
pages 14 - 25
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Chap. 2
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Modern history, Foreign
|
pages 26 - 35
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Chap. 3
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[Modern history,] British
|
pages 36 - 48
|
| Chap. 4 |
[Modern history,] American |
pages 50 - 53 |
| Chap. 5 |
Ecclesiastical |
page 54 |
Philosophy |
|
|
| Chap. 6 |
Natural Philosophy |
page 55 |
| Chap. 7 |
Agriculture |
pages 56-59 |
| Chap. 8 |
Chemistry |
pages 60-61 |
| Chap. 9 |
Surgery |
page 61 |
| Chap. 10 |
Medicine |
pages 62-67 |
| Chap. 11 |
Natural History, I. Animals, Anatomy |
pages 68-69 |
| [Chap. 12 not listed by Jefferson] |
|
|
| Chap. 13 |
[Natural History,] II. Vegetables, Botany |
pages 70-71 |
| Chap. 14 |
[Natural History,] III. Minerals, Mineralogy Geology |
pages 72-73 |
| Chap. 15 |
Technical Arts |
pages 74-76 |
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Chap. 16
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Ethics
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pages 77-85
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Chap. 17
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Religion
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pages 88-97
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| Chap. 18 |
Equity |
pages 98-101 |
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Chap. 19
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Common law
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pages 102-127
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| Chap. 20 |
Law, merchant |
pages 128 [top] - 129 [top] |
| Chap. 21 |
Law, maritime |
pages 128 [middle] - 129 [middle] |
| Chap. 22 |
Law, ecclesiastical |
pages 130-131 |
| Chap. 23 |
Foreign law |
pages 132-134 |
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Chap. 24
|
Politics, general theory |
pages 135-138 |
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[Politics] England, Constitution |
pages 139-140 |
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[Politics] England, Parliament
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pages 141-148
|
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[Politics] England, Dependencies |
pages 149-152 |
| Chap. 25 |
Commerce |
pages 153 and 152 [middle] |
| Chap. 26 |
Mathematics pure, arithmetic |
page 154 |
| Chap. 27 |
Geometry |
page 155 |
| Chap. 28 |
Physics, mathematics, mechanics, statistics, dynamics, pneumatics |
page 156 |
| Chap. 29 |
Astronomy |
page 157 |
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Chap. 30
|
Geography, general |
pages 158-159 |
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Geography, Europe |
pages 160-163 |
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Geography, Asia |
page 164 [top] |
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Geography, Africa |
pages 164 [middle] - 165 |
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Geography, America
|
pages 166-173
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Fine arts |
|
|
| Chap. 31 |
Fine Arts, 1. Gardening |
pages 174-175 |
| Chap. 32 |
[Fine Arts,] 2. Architecture |
pages 176-178 |
| Chap. 33 |
[Fine Arts,] 3. Sculpture |
page 180 |
| Chap. 34 |
[Fine Arts,] 4. Painting |
pages 182-184 |
|
[Fine Arts, 4. cont.] Prints |
page 186 |
| Chap. 35 |
[Fine Arts,] 5. Music, theory |
pages 188-189 |
| Chap. 36 |
[Music,] vocal |
pages 190-192 |
| Chap. 37 |
[Music,] instrumental |
pages 194-197 |
| Chap. 38 |
Poetry, Epic |
pages 198-200 |
| Chap. 39 |
[Poetry,] Romance |
pages 202-205 |
| Chap. 40 |
[Poetry,] Tragedy |
pages 206-207 |
| Chap. 41 |
[Poetry,] Comedy |
pages 208-210 |
|
[Poetry,] [Comedy, Dialog] |
page 211 |
| Chap. 42 |
[Poetry, Dramatic] Pastoral, Odes, Elegies
|
pages 212-217 |
| Chap. 43 |
[Poetry,] Didactic |
pages 220-225 |
| Chap. 44 |
Oratory |
pages 226-228 |
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Chap. 45
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Criticism
|
pages 230-241
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| Chap. 46 |
Polygraphical |
pages 242-243 |
|
Mathematical apparatus |
page 244 |
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