Joe Biden left office with abysmal approval ratings — and faith that history would redeem him.

“It will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together,” he said in a farewell speech. “But the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come.”

In the meantime, there is the opinion of history professors — 17 of whom gathered last weekend at Princeton University to produce not a vindication, but something different: a first-cut scholarly evaluation of the Biden presidency.

Before the two-day gathering, the group had submitted essays on topics including immigration, foreign policy, the economy, media, political polarization and L.G.B.T.Q. rights. After revisions and editing, they will be published by Princeton University Press in about a year under the title “The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden: A First Historical Assessment.”

The group may have been looking backward, with a perspective often deep in the policy weeds. But there were plenty of nods at the chaotic first few weeks since the return of his bitter political antagonist, whose name seemed to come up almost as much as Mr. Biden’s.

“Donald Trump is the most consequential political figure of the 21st century, in the whole world,” Michael Kazin, a professor at Georgetown, who contributed an essay about the Biden administration and labor, said. “That’s both shocking, and something we’ve all gotten used to. In some ways, you could say Biden is a figure in the Trump era.”

The months since the election have brought bitter debate in Democratic circles about the failed Biden (then Harris) campaign. Julian Zelizer, a professor at Princeton and the event’s organizer, said the goal of the project was to rise above both Monday morning quarterbacking and old assumptions — including the idea that a two-term presidency is the norm.