To date, we have published 6 volumes of selected Monroe correspondence. Volumes are available through many college and university libraries, inter-library loan or the publisher, ABC-Clio. Published transcriptions may also be accessed, in limited form, through our online catalogue.

• Volume 1:  A Documentary History of the Presidential Tours of James Monroe (Greenwood Press, 2002)

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  • This volume uses letters, diaries, newspapers, and official papers to document the three national tours that Monroe made in 1817, 1818, and 1819.  In addition to Monroe’s correspondence and speeches, it also contains accounts of Monroe’s tours culled from newspapers, diaries, and third-person correspondence, as well as newspaper editorial commentary on the tour gathered from newspapers across the United States.

• Volume 2: Selected Correspondence and Papers, 1776-1794 (Greenwood Press, 2006)

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  • This volume commences with Monroe’s appointment as an officer in the Continental army in 1776 and concludes with his appointment as minister to France in May 1794.  The volume documents the beginning of Monroe’s long public career: military service during the Revolutionary War, election to the Virginia House of Delegates, member of the Executive Council of Virginia, three-year term in the Continental Congress, return to House of Delegates, delegate to the Virginia ratifying convention, and election to the U. S. Senate.  Private concerns covered in this volume include his marriage and the birth of his first child, his law practice, the acquisition of land in Virginia, Kentucky, and New York, and the beginnings of many life-long friendships, especially those with Jefferson and Madison.

• Volume 3: Selected Correspondence and Papers, 1794-1797 (ABC-Clio/Greenwood Press, 2009)

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  • This volume documents Monroe’s tenure as minister to France, incorporating material from both American and French repositories to document his  struggle to preserve good relations between the United States and France during the critical years of the mid-1790s.  The book commences with Monroe’s appointment as minister in May 1794 and concludes with his departure from France in May 1797.  In addition to information on Monroe’s diplomacy, the volume includes Monroe’s comments on the French Revolution and other events in Europe as well as American political affairs and his personal concerns, both in Paris and at home in Virginia.

• Volume 4: Selected Correspondence and Papers, 1796-1802 (ABC-Clio/Greenwood Press, 2011) 

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  • This volume covers the final months of Monroe’s mission to Paris in 1796, his participation in the bitter political battles of the 1790s (including a narrowly averted duel with Alexander Hamilton), and his three-year term as governor of Virginia.  Central issues of the period were Monroe’s efforts to defend himself against charges of misconduct during his mission to France; his opposition to the Adams administration; the triumphal election of his friend and ally Thomas Jefferson as president; his duties as governor of Virginia, especially during the critical days of Gabriel’s Rebellion.  Personal matters documented in this volume include the birth and death of his infant son, James Spence Monroe, and the birth of his daughter Maria Hester Monroe.

•  Volume 5: Selected Correspondence and Papers, 1803-1811 (ABC-Clio/Greenwood Press, 2014)

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  • Volume Five commences with Monroe’s appointment in January 1803 as minister to France to negotiate what became the Louisiana Purchase and terminates in April 1811 with his appointment as secretary of state in President’s Madison’s cabinet.  It includes documentation not only of the Louisiana negotiations, but also of his term as U. S. minister to Great Britain (1803-1807), including the negotiation of the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty and the Chesapeake affair; his unsuccessful special mission to Spain to negotiate a treaty with that country in 1805; his re-entry into national politics following his return home, including his candidacy in the presidential election of 1808; and his return to private life during the years 1808-1811, including his attention to his farm and other personal business.    The volume provides the most complete documentary account to date of the Louisiana negotiations in 1803 (including the never-before published original French proposal for the treaty), the unsuccessful treaty negotiations with Spain in 1805, and the negotiation of the unratified treaty with Great Britain of 1806 (including material from the British National Archives and never-before-utilized material from the Kislak Collection in the Rare Book Division at the Library of Congress).  The documents also provide a examination of Monroe’s involvement in the 1808 presidential election, his brief term as governor of Virginia, and his decision to accept the appointment as secretary of state.  A highlight of the volume is the correspondence between Monroe and William Wilberforce regarding the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.   The correspondence also highlights family matters (including his family’s dissatisfaction with their residence in London), his attachment to new friends in England and old ones at home (including his supervision in London of the education of John Randolph’s deaf mute nephew), and the tension with his long-time friends and allies Thomas Jefferson and James Madison following the rejection of the 1806 British treaty.

•  Volume 6: Selected Correspondence and Papers, April 1811 – March 1814 (ABC-Clio/Greenwood Press, 2017)

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  • The documents printed in this volume date from James Monroe’s appointment as Secretary of State in April 1811 to the midpoint of his term in that office in March 1814.  They begin with Monroe’s diplomatic negotiations with the British and French as the Madison administration attempted to extricate the country from the negative consequences of the Napoleonic Wars.  With the failure of those talks with the British, the War of 1812 began in July 1812, and Monroe’s focus shifted to prosecuting the war.  The documents illustrate Monroe’s close engagement in military affairs, including a short time as interim Secretary of War.  The volume closes with attempts at both strengthening America’s fighting forces and pursuing peace negotiations in Europe.  Other topics of interest addressed in this volume include filibustering missions in Spanish territories, espionage, the impressment of sailors, slavery, and Monroe’s personal and financial affairs.