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Since its publication in 1960, The Jefferson Image in
the American Mind has become a classic of historical
scholarship. In it Merrill D. Peterson charts Thomas
Jefferson's influence upon American thought and imagination
since his death in 1826. Peterson's focus is "not primarily
with the truth or falsity of the image either as a whole or
in its parts, but rather with its illuminations of the
evolving culture and its shaping power. It is posterity's
configuration of Jefferson. Even more, however, it is a
sensitive reflector, through several generations, of
America's troubled search of the image of itself."
In a new Introduction Peterson discusses the publication
of his book and remarks in the directions of new
scholarship. He also draws attention to the continuing
interest in Jefferson as shown by recent historical fiction,
motion pictures and documentaries, by the remaning of the
Libarary of Congress main building and the National Gallery
of Art's exhibition, The Eye of Thomas Jefferson, by
President William Jefferson Clinton's preinagural pilgrimage
to Monticello, and by the Sotheby's auction of a Jefferson
letter that commanded the highest auction price ever paid
for such a manuscript.
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"A brilliant, original study of Jefferson's psthumous
reputation and of its influence on American political
thought from the 1820s through the 1930s."
--The New Yorker
"An engrossing story of the uses and abuses of a great
legend. . . during almost a century and a half. . .
[Peterson's] writing is consistently good, and at
times brilliant. His book can be commended to anyone who
would penetrate the meaning of the historic American
experience."
--The New York Times
"A valuable book, a storehouse of
information, on when and why Jefferson's reputation rose and
fell, and phoenix-like rose again."
--The Nation
"A 'must' for all students of Thomas Jefferson."
--The Annals of the American Academy of
Political Science
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