When an opinionated, F-bomb dropping, rare book collector locates a well-preserved handwritten journal on eBay she starts salivating. The collector, Sheryl James Warren, a British-born American, was also a freelance writer and cheeky humorist. She immediately noticed that the circa 1807 journal was mistakenly categorized. The journal was indexed and originally written to be published as a common era book of quotes and maxims. And the unpublished book wasn’t penned by some boorish, average colonist relating mundane, day-to-day activities. Composed by a man named Theodosius Hansford between the years of 1804 to 1807 the book was an unopened window into American history. 

     Theodosius Hansford was an attorney, member of Virginia’s House and clerk to Virginia’s Senate. He lived through the Revolutionary War and witnessed America’s first and only impeachment trial of a Supreme Court Justice. Hansford rubbed elbows with the Founding Fathers and lawmakers. Sixty percent of the quotes he documented were from key players in the historic impeachment trial of Samuel Chase, a Supreme Court Justice personally selected by George Washington, who was later defrocked by Hansford’s friend, Thomas Jefferson. Hansford proved that the laws then and our current laws now are insufficient to stop federal judges from using their benches as bully pulpits. He also related his unbending opinion on slavery, tolerance and respect of a gay colleague, plus other historic phrases of authors and speakers of his day.

     As a collector of antiquities, Sheryl James Warren is not a scholar or academic. She is a nationally published humorist who is opinionated and somewhat hotheaded. Because Hansford's diction is outdated and comical to contemporary readers, Warren dissects Hansford’s words and includes them as a stand alone chapter. She meticulously relates the historic events of his life, being respectful and objective when she needs to be, but quirky and cocky when she can. 

     The Quill and The Keyboard illuminates the mindset of a slave owner and his prejudiced upbringing. It highlights Hansford's internal conflicts. It is a fresh take on the causes of the Revolutionary War and a family’s tumultuous journey during unprecedented times. It includes the torturous treatment of Theodosius Hansford’s brother, Charles, who was captured by the Redcoats and held deep within the bowels of the prison ship HMS Jersey, the Hell Afloat. 

     Historically compelling with pockets of humor, The Quill and The Keyboard is a window into the formation of the new laws of a new nation. It is an entanglement of two voices: a cutthroat attorney and slave owner, who witnessed American history from 1768 to 1824, and a spirited woman with a wry wit, who would have been arrested for profanity if she had been born in the eighteenth century. Warren thought that Theodosius Hansford was an A-hole.