The Republic of Letters : The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (annotated ed)

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were two major philosopher statesmen of the American Enlightenment.

For over 50 years they formed a personal and political partnership, jointly working out the ideology of democracy and the practice of representative government.

The collaboration began in 1776, when Jefferson and Madison met as members of the Virginia House of Delegates, and ended 50 years later when Jefferson died.

They exchanged nearly 1250 letters, ranging from short notes to Madison's 17 page letter on the results of the Constitutional Convention.

This set of three volumes presents all the letters between the two, annotated in chronological order and organized into chapters by year.

In addition to the general introduction to the correspondence, introductory essays to each chapter establish context and identify people and events for the general reader.