Thomas Jefferson was arguably the greatest of all American book collectors. His first collection became the nucleus of the Library of Congress, after the original was destroyed by fire. But after selling his library to Congress, he found that he could not be without his books—so he set about building another library from scratch. He devoured books, recommended them to friends and colleagues zealously, and “spared no pains, opportunity, or expense” to acquire more. According to Arthur Bestor, his collections and his painstaking organization of them form “a blueprint of his own mind.”
We are pleased to offer Jefferson’s very own eight-volume set of the Duc of Sully’s Memoires, a fascinating work penned by a key advisor to King Henry IV that was “usually included in Jefferson’s lists of recommended historical reading” (Sowerby). It was Jefferson’s unique custom to write his ownership initials in among a book’s pages—as he has done in each of these eight volumes. Books from Jefferson’s personal collection are exceptionally scarce on the market. To find such a set of books that he thought of so highly is rare indeed.
Speculation was rampant in contemporary papers, with many reviewers attributing the book to a man because of the quality and complexity of the prose. However, William Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte’s literary hero and later an important member of her circle, wrote, “It is a fine book… I have been exceedingly moved & pleased by Jane Eyre. It is a woman’s writing, but whose?” Bronte’s identity was revealed only after the work had gone through several editions. By that time, it was already clear that she had written a classic of English literature. 
Critics blasted Twain’s dark, brilliant Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the moment of publication, vilifying the book for its “coarseness” and “blood-curdling humor.” Nonetheless, it emerged as arguably the defining novel of American literature, prompting Hemingway to declare: “All modern writing comes from one book by Mark Twain. It’s the best book we’ve had. There was nothing before. There has been nothing since.” Published in 1885, Huck was a labor of love and frustration that had taken Twain eight years, and he was devastated that its introduction failed to elicit the same enthusiasm as his beloved Tom Sawyer. 
