The Jefferson Bible: A Biography

Description

The life and times of a uniquely American testament In his retirement, Thomas Jefferson edited the New Testament with a penknife and glue, removing all mention of miracles and other supernatural events. Inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, Jefferson hoped to reconcile Christian tradition with reason by presenting Jesus of Nazareth as a g

Peter Manseau is the Lilly Endowment Curator of American Religious History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. His many books include The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost and Rag and Bone: A Journey among the World's Holy Dead. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

"Peter Manseau's fluent and instructive The Jefferson Bible: A Biography . . . carefully traces Jefferson's pilgrimage into the non-miraculous."---James Parker, The Atlantic "Peter Manseau knows the Jefferson Bible well. . . . His outstanding biography of the text . . . pays careful attention to its status as private project, published book and political symbol."---Crawford Gribben, Wall Street Journal "Manseau's story [recounts] a thrilling mixture of accident, fine timing, and diligent public-museum curation."---Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker "[A] fine 'biography,' the latest in Princeton University Press's excellent series on the Lives of Great Religious Books. "---Nick Spencer, Prospect "Manseau's biography is scholarly and witty. It is an excellent introduction to an underappreciated aspect of Jefferson's thinking."---Daniel Rey, History Today "Excellent. . . . As Manseau observes, the ways in which Americans have received the Jefferson Bible may be more interesting than the ways by which Jefferson conceived it."---John Miller, Angelus "An illuminating look at a work of one of our most intellectually inquisitive presidents that will appeal to Jefferson aficionados, as well as anyone interested in the history of American religion." * Library Journal * "[F]ascinating. ... Manseau's accounting of the post-discovery history of Jefferson's [Bible] is well told. " * The Journal of Southern History *