ELLIS, Joseph J.
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf , 1999.
$150.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-148602
+$500
"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past": American Sphinx; inscribed by Joseph J. Ellis
First edition, later printing of this National Book Award winning biography of Thomas Jefferson. Octavo, original publisher's half-cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Clayton Williams Best Wishes, Joseph J Ellis Deerfield, MD October 1999." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson.
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis is biography that probes the complexities and contradictions of Jefferson’s public ideals and private life. Rather than offering a strictly chronological narrative, Ellis approaches Jefferson thematically, exploring his roles as revolutionary thinker, political leader, and private man in order to reconcile the tensions between his Enlightenment rhetoric and his personal actions, particularly regarding slavery. The book emphasizes Jefferson’s elusive nature—his preference for ambiguity and avoidance of confrontation—as a defining trait that allowed him to project multiple, sometimes conflicting identities. Joseph J. Ellis is a distinguished American historian and author whose scholarship focuses on the Founding Fathers and the intellectual and political origins of the United States. A former professor at Mount Holyoke College, Ellis is known for combining rigorous archival research with accessible, narrative-driven prose.
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson.
$150.00
In Stock
