By Charlotte Crystal

The University of Virginia Press is inaugurating its new Rotunda collection of digital scholarship with the release of “The Dolley Madison Digital Edition,” an edited collection of letters delivered in a sophisticated Web-based format.

The “Dolley Madison Digital Edition” can be found at www.rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/dmde.

The edition, edited by Holly Shulman, research professor in Studies in Women and Gender, will provide a complete edition of all of the known correspondence of Dolley Payne Madison, wife of the fourth U.S. President, James Madison. Arguably the most important First Lady of the 19th century, Madison created a standard for presidents’ wives that endures today.

Dolley Madison’s correspondence illustrates her behind-the-scenes influence and provides an unprecedented view of the Jefferson and Madison administrations, the early history of Washington and the White House, and the era’s manners and morals. The first installment of this edition contains more than 700 letters, through June 1836, with 2,000 additional letters planned for later installments. Because they are stored in an Extensible Markup Language-based archive, Madison’s letters may be read in chronological order or searched by time period, correspondent or topic.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which provided the press with a two-year, $642,000 grant in 2000, has just awarded another two-year, $638,000 grant to continue the development of the press’ electronic imprint.

“This generous support from the Mellon Foundation underlines the significance of the press’ digital publishing initiatives, which are on their way to becoming a trusted source of electronic, scholarly publications in the humanities,” said U.Va. President John T. Casteen III.

The Office of the President also has supported the project financially, having matched the foundation’s initial and renewal grants.

This electronic project follows the publication of “The Selected Letters of Dolley Payne Madison,” a volume published by the press and co-edited by Shulman and David B. Mattern, associate editor of the Papers of James Madison at U.Va.

In a related announcement, the press named Mark Saunders, press assistant director, as manager of its electronic imprint. Saunders will continue to serve as marketing and sales director for books, but also will oversee new electronic initiatives made possible by the latest funding. These initiatives include developing two collections of digital materials, the American Founding Era and Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture.

In addition to producing materials originally meant for digital publication, the electronic imprint will begin to digitize previously published documentary and critical editions on 18th and 19th century topics. The imprint also will seek to acquire related works from other university presses, and convert some of the press’ other projects into electronic editions.

This fall, the press will begin to create a digital edition of the 52 published volumes of The Papers of George Washington, thanks to generous financial support from the Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The press also plans to explore the possibility of creating a digital edition of The Papers of James Madison.