▪ Thomas Jefferson’s copy of “The Federalist,” inscribed at the top of the title page by Alexander Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth. Rare Book and Special Collections Division; photo by Shawn Miller

The Founders’ Footnotes

The Library holds Jefferson’s and Madison’s heavily annotated, personal copies of ‘The Federalist.’
The Library has within its collections two fascinating copies of “The Federalist” with deep personal ties to three Founding Fathers.

The Federalist Papers originally were published in New York newspapers as 85 stand-alone essays advocating for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. These foundational texts appeared under the pseudonym “Publius” but were written by an authorial tag team of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison (with John Jay contributing only five essays due to illness).

In an incredible feat of writerly productivity, Hamilton and Madison published multiple essays each week, releasing an avalanche of arguments for why the proposed Constitution would ensure the new nation’s survival and prosperity.

Creating the United States: Great Collection Items from the Founding Era

Commission of George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, signed by John Hancock, dated June 19, 1775.
▪ George Washington’s commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army, signed by John Hancock. 1775. Manuscript Division
Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, featuring extensive handwritten edits and strikeouts.
▪ Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. June 1776. Manuscript Division
The Dunlap Broadside, the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence, dated July 4, 1776, from Philadelphia.
▪ George Washington’s personal copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed by John Dunlap. Washington had this copy of the Declaration read to his assembled troops on July 9, 1776. Manuscript Division
The July 6, 1776, issue of the "Pennsylvania Evening Post," which was the first newspaper to print the Declaration.
▪ The first newspaper printing of the Declaration, in Benjamin Towne’s Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6, 1776. Serial and Government Publications Division
A 1781 French map detailing the naval and land siege of Yorktown and Gloucester during the American Revolutionary War.
▪ Map of the naval battle that led to the surrender of British Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. Geography and Map Division
An engraved 1795 map of the United States and North America, featuring state boundaries and decorative cartographic art.
▪ The first map of the newly independent United States compiled, printed and published in America by an American. Abel Buell, 1784. On deposit to the Library of Congress from David M. Rubenstein
A 1752 engraved "Map of Philadelphia and Parts Adjacent" by N. Scull and G. Heap, featuring the State House.
▪ This map contains the first illustration in any format of Independence Hall, home of the Federal Convention of 1787. Geography and Map Division
Two leather-bound volumes of "The Federalist" sitting on a surface next to a decorative bronze lamp base.
▪ Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of “The Federalist.” Printed by Archibald McLean, 1788. Rare Book and Special Collections Division/photo by Shawn Miller
A 1789 printed document listing the proposed amendments to the Constitution, later known as the Bill of Rights.
▪ James Madison’s copy of the proposed Bill of Rights, Sept. 14, 1789. Rare Book and Special Collections Division
Handwritten 1789 letter from George Washington to Congress, expressing anxiety regarding his presidential appointment.
▪ George Washington’s copy of his first inaugural address, delivered April 30, 1789. Manuscript Division
Andrew Ellicott’s 1792 plan for the city of Washington, illustrating the planned layout of the federal district.
▪ Pierre-Charles L’Enfant’s original plan for the city of Washington, D.C. 1791. Geography and Map Division
These essays were first collected and bound together in spring 1788 in a two-volume edition titled “The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787.” Archibald McLean, the printer of the first edition, complained about the project’s expanding size, saying, “When I engaged to do the work, it was to consist of twenty numbers, or at the most twenty-five.” So, instead of printing one volume of 200 pages, McLean’s Manhattan print shop ultimately was burdened with producing two volumes totaling 600 pages. Plus, the book didn’t sell. McLean was stuck with several hundred unsold copies.

The Library holds four copies from McLean’s edition, including one originally owned by Elizabeth Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton. Eliza sent her copy as a gift to her sister, Angelica Schuyler Church, then living in London with her husband. The title page is inscribed, “For Mrs. Church from her Sister Elizabeth Hamilton.”

A close-up of historical handwritten notes in a book identifying the authors of specific Federalist Papers essays.
▪ Jefferson wrote this list atop the flyleaf — his guesses at the identity of the author of each essay. Rare Book and Special Collections Division; photo by Shawn Miller
At this time, Angelica’s daughter was enrolled in the same French boarding school as Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter. During Jefferson’s time in Paris as the American minister to France, he and Angelica became friends and would exchange letters for years.

They apparently also exchanged books. The library Jefferson sold to the United States for the Library of Congress in 1815 included the Schuyler sisters’ copy of “The Federalist,” which Angelica had gifted to Jefferson.

Jefferson commented that “The Federalist” was “the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written” — high praise from the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Guessing who had written which essay was a popular parlor game in the early American political class. Within his copy, Jefferson used the front flyleaf to identify the authors for each of Publius’ 85 essays. He attributed five to Jay, 30 to Madison and “the rest of the work by Alexander Hamilton.”

When Hamilton died following his duel with Aaron Burr, he left behind a list of the authors for each essay. Within this list, Hamilton named himself as the author of a few essays that Madison himself claimed.

In Madison’s personal copy of “The Federalist,” also held by the Library, he sought to correct the record and noted in pencil the initials of each essay’s author. Furthermore, Madison’s copy contains his revisions for a “new edition” published in 1818.

Because McLean’s 1788 first edition was produced while Madison was away serving in Virginia’s state ratifying convention, his essays were published in “The Federalist” exactly as they had appeared in the newspapers. For the 1818 edition, Madison finally had the opportunity to correct errors and polish his prose.

Madison blushed at being labeled “The Father of the Constitution,” acknowledging instead “the work of many heads and many hands.” Just please get right whose hands wrote what.

—Patrick Hastings is a specialist in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
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