James Madison's Montpelier We the People Spring 2014 | Page 6

We The People

Tiffany Cole, Assistant Curator
for Research & Documentation,
displays illustrations from the
Comte de Buffon’s Oeuvres
Complètes: Oiseaux.

6

Catastrophic Rotunda Fire at the University of Virginia in 1895.

continued from page 5
Looking west towards the Blue Ridge Mountains with the books shelved and stacked about him in his library at Montpelier,
Madison developed some of his most profound ideas, resulting in the signal papers “Vices of the Political System of the
United States” and “Of Ancient and Modern Confederacies.” While these essays were not published during Madison’s lifetime,
the papers were basic to Madison’s role in drafting the Constitution, in writing his contributions to The Federalist, and in
defending the Constitution at the Virginia Ratifying Convention. It was this work that earned Madison the title of Father of the
Constitution, a moniker attached to him by his contemporaries, not by historians.
Though often in legislative or executive office in Philadelphia, New York, Richmond, or Washington, Madison most preferred
working in his Montpelier library with access to his cherished collection of books. In his retirement, as books and pamphlets
came to Montpelier in a steady stream, the tables and shelves of the “Old Library” became overcrowded, and Madison
expanded his collection into a new first-floor library located in the mansion’s north wing. This adjustment offered him a view
to his beloved Temple, a symbol of the American republic, and did not require the aging and less mobile Madison to climb the
stairs to second floor. He carefully acquired titles to fill out his shelves with useful material, writing in his retirement, “I buy
Books now only as I am able to read them & am already much in arrears as to those on hand.”
Nearing the end of his life, Madison planned for the dispersal of his books to friends, family, and institutions. In particular,
he outlined a gift of what ultimately numbered 431 books and a financial bequest to benefit the University of Virginia‘s growing
library. Madison was instrumental in the University’s founding and served as its second rector following Jefferson’s death.
Fulfilling her husband’s wishes, Dolley thoughtfully selected volumes from Madison’s shelves, careful not to duplicate titles
already in the University’s collection.
Unfortunately, the University’s collection of Madison books was destroyed during the catastrophic Rotunda fire on October 27,
1895. Despite efforts to save the structure and library within, the books fed the flames; wh