[Thomas Jefferson, half length portrait, seated at desk, facing left]

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Jefferson sits at a desk, turned to the left, in this half-length steel engraving, a format that let engravers render the sitter's face in fine detail while leaving room for the writing table and the papers that hint at his work. Steel plates held up far better than copper under heavy printing, so they were the usual choice for portraits meant to circulate widely in books and periodicals. The caption card gives no date, but the pose and the desk point to a long tradition of portraying Jefferson as a writer and statesman, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president.

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