Although it was thought that the entire section of Jefferson’s library devoted to didactic literature was destroyed in the 1851 fire, this book reappeared in 1940, when it was presented to the Library of Congress by bookdealer Max Harzof. Petronius’ Satyricon is a comic, satiric fictional narrative of Roman life in the first century AD. It was of interest to Jefferson because of his love of Tacitus, who mentions Petronius (as Gaius) in his Annals.