Author: JEFFERSON, Mr
Biography:
JEFFERSON, Mr. (fl 1773)
Poems, by Mr. Jefferson was published in London in 1773, with a second edition in the same year; special attention is also given on the title-page, however, to booksellers in York. Library catalogues attribute it variously to the US president Thomas Jefferson (1732-1807) or to the Independent minister Joseph Jefferson of Basingstoke, q.v., but it cannot be by either of them. Thomas Jefferson’s rare verses are well documented. Joseph Jefferson was not born until 1766. The second edition appears to be simply a reprint of the first with a revised title-page. The contents consist of sentimental poems about the seasons, death, and unhappy love, with liberal use of exclamation marks. The format is peculiar, with nearly all the poems composed in short lines triple-spaced, as though to exaggerate the scale of the work. There are few clues to the identity of the author and given only the surname, it is not possible to say more than that he was an aspiring writer, probably young, and possibly resident in York.