More than any other Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson made his reputation on the brilliance of his writing. John Adams chose the 33-year-old Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence largely because of his "masterly Pen." The genius of the Declaration and Jefferson's later writings amply confirmed Adams's judgment. Few writers have said so much on so many subjects - and said it so well - as Jefferson.

Drawing primarily on The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, published by Princeton University Press, John Kaminski has carefully collected and cleverly arranged Jefferson's pronouncements on almost 500 subjects.

Edited by John P. Kaminski, he is the founder and director of the Center for the Study of the American Constitution in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Hardbound, 557 pages.