Books Abound in John Adams Unbound
Boston, MA. - From September 2006 - April 2007, more than 3,800 books from John Adams’s personal library were on display at the Boston Public Library. A native of Braintree, Massachusetts, Adams graduated from Harvard College, eventually becoming a lawyer and politician. I had the opportunity to visit the John Adams Unbound exhibition and discovered that the second president of the United States had a passion for collecting books. Upon entering the hall, there was an imposing portrait of Adams suspended from the ceiling. Captions on kiosks described selected books in the collection. Volumes were stacked in columns more than 10 feet high in a semi-circle glass case. In several of the books Adams’s written comments remain in the margins. His collection includes books by authors such as Homer, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft. Another section of the exhibit was divided into seven themes found in a quote from Adams’s diary. On January 30, 1768, Adams wrote, “I am mostly intent at pres...