Overview
The fascinating history and development of Monticello—home of its designer and architect, Thomas Jefferson.The ideals that guided Jefferson's career as a statesman and political thinker also inspired his work as the architect and designer of his home at Monticello. Indeed, no great house in America more closely reflects the intellectual and aesthetic vision of its builder. Here, in this copiously illustrated and thoroughly researched book, Howard Adams traces Monticello's fascinating history and development from the first plans through the 40 years of building and rebuilding that continued right up to Jefferson's death in 1826. In four major sections, the author deals with Jefferson the man and Jefferson the designer/builder; explores in detail the designing and building of the first as well as the final Monticello; examines the furnishings Jefferson designed and acquired for the house; and discusses the development of the grounds as well, for Jefferson was one of the first Americans to give serious thought to landscape architecture. Mr. Adams also relates the varying fortunes of the house from Jefferson's death to the current undertakings which shall finally restore Monticello to the way Jefferson knew and planned it.
Other Details: 250 illustrations, 100 in full color 288 pages 9 7/8 x 9 7/8" Published 1988
"This beautiful book, as sumptuous as it is scholarly, brings fresh insight and learning to the story of the most civilized house in American history." —Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"This is, quite simply, the best and most interesting book about a great house I've ever seen." —Louis Auchincloss
"...the most thoroughly satisfying book on an architectural subject to come my way in a long time... What [Adams] has given us here, in a graceful prose and stunning photographs, is a life of Jefferson in relation to what may still be the finest house in America." —The New Yorker
Author Biography: William Howard Adams is a Fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Charlottesville, Virginia. He has also served as trustee of the Foundation. While a member of the staff of the National Gallery of Art, Mr. Adams organized the Bicentennial exhibition, "The Eye of Thomas Jefferson," and edited the catalog. He has written and lectured widely on Jefferson and the arts. His latest book, The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson, was published in 1997 by Yale.