to the recently established territories in 1631. George Washington’s proclivity towards reading and collecting books in general was also acclaimed. Washington’s personal library was originally housed in his estate at Mount Vernon, Virginia. The library consisted of 1,200 volumes, and a catalog of the titles included in his library was created before his death in 1799. During the mid-nineteenth century, nearly all of the former collection had been purchased by Massachusetts book and manuscript merchant Henry Stevens. Stevens subsequently decided to auction the collection to the British Museum in London; however, interested parties from both Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts procured the collection where they bequeathed it to its current residence, the Boston Athenæum. Washington’s library encompassed books in many disciplines such as economics, geography, history, and religion. Some of his most beloved volumes were those that pertained to agriculture, since he was an avid farmer. One work that he embraced dearly was a play entitled Cato, a Tragedy written in 1712 by the English playwright Joseph Addison because he felt a connection between the main character Cato and his constant battle with totalitarianism. In addition to the subject areas, the library accommodated diaries, travel, and over 100 federal correspondence letters. Like Washington, Thomas Jefferson was a prolific collector of books and a voracious reader. He actually owned three libraries over the course of his lifetime. The first was maintained from ages 14 to 26 (1757–1770) at his birthplace of Shadwell, Virginia, about five miles west of Monticello. It consisted of 40 that he inherited from his father. Since his father had been a surveyor, the library contained a plethora of maps and topographical monographs, though Jefferson added quite a few volumes to the library from his studies. By 1770, Jefferson had acquired over 300 volumes, worth an estimated 200 pounds. During the period of the American Revolution in the 1780s, Jefferson amassed a collection of books that numbered in the thousands. This collection became his library at his home in Monticello. Over 2,000 books were purchased during the time he spent in France in the late 1780s. Because Jefferson was fluent in French and Latin, the library contained numerous books in these languages, as well as 15 others. The collection was abundant in books on law, philosophy, and history, but it accommodated volumes on many subject areas such as cooking, gardening, and more exotic avocations like beekeeping. Unlike some of