Positive reconstruction · reader-scoped, not an inferred-absence lacuna
This reconstruction covers the readable fraction of Thomas Jefferson's formation -- attested reading and writing only, not the whole of a life.
Thomas Jefferson and Barruel's work on Illuminism (quotations from Wishaupt)
Thomas Jefferson's attested relationship to Barruel's work on Illuminism (quotations from Wishaupt).
Thomas Jefferson is attested as having read this work by Abbe Barruel.
Evidence ledger
- First-person reading testimony (Explicit first-person reading, deliberately bounded: 'the idea I have formed from only an hour's reading of Barruel's quotations from him [Wishaupt].' Author in-passage (Barruel); the volume is designated by its Weishaupt quotations; proposed as a new Work.). Self-report reliability discount 0.7: Explicit but candidly minimal ('the idea I have formed from ONLY AN HOUR'S READING of Barruel's quotations from him, which you may be sure are not the most favorable') - the quantified brevity is a depth discount, while the candor and the source-criticism (noting Barruel's hostile selection) strengthen the claim's reliability.