The 250

June 2, 2014

You may not have known that Thomas Jefferson – author of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. President, founder of the University of Virginia – also found time to amass the largest contemporary collection of books in North America. For sixteen years, The Library of Congress has been trying to track down copies of the final 250 listed in Jefferson’s collection.

is an intern for The Millions. She's worked as a management consultant for various American and European companies and one African government. Her website is eliseliu.com and she tweets @eliseliu.