Jefferson in love

the long version

The newly widowed Thomas Jefferson set sail for Paris. As America's new minister to France he was expected to deal with the politicians and intrigue at the court of King Louis XVI, but he was not prepared for the likes of Maria Cosway. Enchantingly beautiful, sophisticated, and talented, this Italian-born woman captured the handsome Virginian's heart. Maria was his equal in many ways - she was an accomplished portrait and landscape painter, a harpist, singer, and composer. Their romance - lasting more than three years - is recorded in these private billets-doux between the shy American minister and his precocious bonne femme. Presented here in an accessible edition by Jefferson-scholar John P. Kaminski are over forty romantic letters between Thomas and Maria. What they say about the innermost Jefferson as he pours out his heart in the midst of pre-Revolutionary France is remarkably revealing.