From 1784 to 1789 Jefferson was in France, first as commissioner to negotiate peace treaties and then as American minister. Volume 13 continues the account of these years (which are covered in Volumes 7 to 14) and includes material on his travels through Holland, Germany, and northern France; on his study of wine cultivation, whale fishing, and the tobacco trade; on the consular convention with France; on the news from the United States concerning the beginnings of the Federal Government under the new Constitution.

Volume 13 begins at the end of March 1788, when Jefferson and Adams were still in Amsterdam carrying on negotiations with the Dutch bankers for a loan to carry the national debt until the new government could be firmly established under the proposed Constitution, and concludes on 7 October 1788.