Julian Parks Boyd (1903–28 May 1980) was an American professor who was Professor of history atPrinceton University.^[1] He served as president of theAmerican Historical Association in 1964. For his efforts in preserving the site of theBattle of Hastings, he was appointed an honoraryCommander of the Order of the British Empire.

Boyd was born atConverse Mill Village,Spartanburg County,South Carolina in 1903. He received a bachelor's degree in 1925 and a master's degree in 1926 fromDuke University.^[1] He attended theUniversity of Pennsylvania as a doctoral candidate but left without completing his work for a PhD.^[2] From 1928 to 1932, he worked for Pennsylvania'sWyoming Historical and Geological Society. From 1932 to 1934, he was director of theNew York State Historical Association, and from 1934 to 1940, he worked for theHistorical Society of Pennsylvania.^[1][3] He was Princeton University Librarian from 1940 to 1952.^[4][5] He joined the history department of Princeton University with the rank of professor in 1952.^[1] He editedThe Papers of Thomas Jefferson from 1944 to his death. His approach has been influential:

Modern historical editing dates from the publication of Julian Boyd's first volume ofThe Papers of Thomas Jefferson in 1950. Although there had been earlier compilations of the papers of famous Americans, his carefully prepared texts of Jefferson's letters and other writings, "warts and all," set a new standard for accuracy and reliability.^[6]

Boyd was an elected member of both theAmerican Philosophical Society and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[7][8]

• Bernstein, Mark F. (14 May 2003)."Features: History, letter by letter".Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved28 November 2023.

• Julian P. Boyd Bibliography, American Historical Association website