Deposited with the Boston Public Library in 1894, the John Adams Library includes over 3,000 volumes collected by the second president during his lifetime as well as many volumes donated by members of his family. One of the greatest private collections of its day, the Adams Library remains one of the largest colonial American libraries still intact.
This remarkable collection represents the intellectual tastes of an influential thinker, writer, and political philosopher who helped shape the Constitution of the United States and drafted the Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. John Adams's library spans the fields of classics, literature, history, politics, government, philosophy, religion, law, science, mathematics, medicine, agriculture, language and linguistics, economics, and travel. The collection is of particular interest to scholars and historians because Adams recorded thousands of interpretive and critical manuscript annotations in the margins of hundreds of his books. - Boston Public Library
| Y/M/D | Description | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1750/02/22 | John Adams signes his copy of "M Tullii Ciceronis Orationum Selectarum Liber, Editus in Ufum Scholarums Hollandiae and West Frisiae". | John Adams Birthplace, Quincy |
| 1822/08/10 | John Adams deeds to the Town of Quincy "fragments of my library" which included more than 3,000 volumes to be place in the future Adams Academy. As the Academy is yet to be built, the books are deposited in the new Quincy town hall. | Quincy Town Hall, Quincy |
| 1871/00/00 | Upon the completion of the Adams Academy, John Adams' library is moved into an upper room. Although he intended his library for the use of the general public, his rare and valuable volumes are more appropriate for scholars. | Adams Academy, Quincy, Quincy |
| 1883/00/00 | The John Adams' book collection is moved to the Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy. | Crane, Thomas, Public Library, Quincy |
| 1894/00/00 | The John Adams Library is deposited in the rare book department of the Boston Public Library, where it remains. | Boston Public Library, Boston |
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