"Two Pieces of Homespun" Clarified

John Adams to Thomas Jefferson,
February 3, 1812
Manuscript letter
Manuscript Division
State Department transfer, 1904 (9.11)

Adams received Jefferson's January 21, 1812, letter with good humor. He explained that the "two Pieces of Homespun" were not cloth but were books "spun from the Brain of John Quincy Adams." Adams's and Jefferson's renewed correspondence--much more than just an exchange of friendly letters--is recognized as one of the greatest intellectual exchanges between former presidents in American history, rivaled only by the correspondence of Jefferson and Madison.