Biographical and political accounts for Thomas Jefferson now span across three centuries. Up until 1851, virtually all biographical accounts for Jefferson relied on general and common knowledge gained from official records and public writings and newspapers. It wasn't until Henry S. Randall, the first historian allowed to interview Jefferson's family, giving him access to family letters and records, did biographies of Jefferson take on a more intimate perspective. Randall wrote a three volume biography which set the premise for many biographies that followed.