Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the frontispiece of the nine-volume set, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, from the Glessner library. The set, containing 5,845 pages, was edited by Henry Augustine Washington (1820-1858) and published in 1884 by Townsend Mac Coun of New York.
The portrait was engraved by John Chester Buttre (1821-1893), a leading American steel-plate engraver, best known for his three-volume The American Portrait Gallery, published in 1880-1881. It is based on one of three portraits of Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), considered to be one of America’s greatest portraitists, and the artist of portraits of the first six U.S. presidents.
The portrait is presented here in honor of America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. By great coincidence, that date will also mark the 200th anniversary of the death of both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third presidents of the United States, respectively.