The Papers of James Madison

[4] When Dolley ultimately sold the remainder of Madison's papers to Congress in 1848, she apparently did not realize that her son, John Payne Todd, had retained for himself many of the more valuable manuscripts from that collection.

The PJM project provides a better understanding of all of Madison's writings by methodically collecting, transcribing, and interpreting even the most difficult of his papers.

Additionally, the PJM project publishes some important third-party materials that are known to have passed through Madison's hands and that demonstrably informed his conduct in significant ways.

As of 2011[update], the project has collected nearly 29,000 copies of documents relating to Madison's life, including letters, essays, notes, diaries, account books, ledgers, wills, legal papers, and inventories.

The site's searchable database will eventually include around 200,000 individual documents that have been drawn from the letterpress editions of the founders' papers.

These may be photocopies or reproductions on microfilm, fiche, or card, electronic scans or print copies from journals and newspapers of the period.

The Library of Congress makes digital images of their collection available free for online public viewing via American Memory.

Interpreting some of these more complex documents, particularly those from non-native English speakers and from correspondents with limited formal education, is one of the more interesting challenges the PJM staff deals with on a regular basis.

These individuals, as well as institutional holders of Madison documents, are acknowledged in the PJM volumes for providing permission to publish annotated, print editions of their letters.

PJM staff find them in print and online auction catalogs, and occasionally receive a phone call, email, or letter about a newly unearthed document in a repository or private hands.

While some bureaucratic and routine correspondence may be omitted or mentioned in footnotes, the majority of Madison's papers are printed or abstracted in full, to illuminate his thinking and his public and personal life.

For example, those that are badly defaced, torn, undated, misdated, or unsigned require additional research in order to accurately present them to readers.

To learn more about the extensive process of preparing Madison's letters for publication, and the special case of coded documents, click here.

The PJM staff will continue to produce print editions of the Papers of James Madison until all series are complete.

The project is managed by Documents Compass, a non-profit program of the Virginia Humanities whose focus is to bring documentary editions into the digital age.

[15] Founders Online gives scholars and the general public access to these primary source materials before they appear in the official print editions.