3 March 1842

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Engraving Signed

Title: [Signed engraving of John Quincy Adams]

Engraved by Nathaniel Dearborn, a Boston engraver. Depicts Adams late in life. With the following note on verso: "Mr. Adams' autograph by himself on the 3rd March 1842. Obtained at the request of Mr. Cross by Judge Underwood of Ky." Possibly Joseph Rogers Underwood, a pro-slavery Whig, Unionist, and congressman from Kentucky.

GLC02809

22 November 1799

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sylvanus Bourne

Discusses the appointment of a consular agent at Embden, mentioning a Mr. Gregory as a possible appointee. Notes changes in France's government (Napoleon's seizing of power), doubting that it will produce a general peace in the Quasi-War between the United States and France. States that it is unlikely that "Prussia will interfere in any manner for the restoration of Peace, or that she could do much to bring it about were she ever so inclined to attempt it." Mentions two principles as the foundation for the war, but does not specify them. Written while Adams served as American Minister to…

GLC03298

16 June 1812

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to P.P.F. Degrand

Thanks Degrand for sending Boston newspapers containing "The Message of Govr. Gerry concerning libels, and the Act of Incorporation of the State Bank." Mentions lost correspondence from Degrand. Comments on an anecdote about assassination and discusses the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Percival. Also discusses American politics, particularly the pernicious effects of the "prevalence of party spirit among us, and the licentiousness of the press." Written while Adams was the American Minister to Russia shortly before the Declaration of War against Britain.

GLC03299

1841

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Pamphlet

Title: Argument of John Quincy Adams, before the Supreme Court of the United States : in the case of the United States, appellants, vs. Cinque, and others,...

... (title continues) Africans, captured in the schooner Amistad, by Lieut. Gedney, delivered on the 24th of February and 1st of March, 1841: with a review of the case of the Antelope, reported in the 10th, 11th, and 12th volumes of Wheaton's Reports. Published by Seth Williston Benedict. Reprinted in 1969 by Arno Press, also available on microfilm.

GLC03809

07 July 1842

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Printed document signed

Title: [Printed engraving of John Quincy Adams with note].

Note on verso indicates date Adams signed the print. Numbered 983 (the previous number 1279 has been struck).

GLC03815

31 August 1815

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to William Eustis re: treaty of Ghent, Napoleonic wars, and threat of Barbery

Discusses the Treaty of Ghent, Napoleonic Wars, threat of Barbary pirates, and the new Netherlands consititution. Re: the Napoleonic Wars, Adams writes: "France is a conquest, and as a conquest will be treated."

GLC03626

21 September 1838

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to editor of Quincy Patriot

Written as Member of Congress. A report to his constituents regarding petitions made concerning the right to petition and its suppression through the Gag Rule, abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia and the slave trade in the US, his opposition to the admission of Texas, a condemnation of the "fraudulent" Treaty of New Echota which removed the Cherokee Indians and a bill for suppressing duelling between representatives. Pages are stained.

GLC03707

30 November 1795

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Pinckney

Written by Adams as American Minister to the Netherlands. Recipient inferred as Thomas Pinckney, American Minister to Britain who was serving as envoy extraordinary to Spain to negotiate boundaries. Mentions Pinckney's letter of 28 October 1795 to William A. Deas, Secretary of Legation. Secretary of State Edmund Randolph had ordered Adams to London to exchange formal ratification of the Jay Treaty. He arrived too late to execute that duty, which was performed by Deas. Adams is writing with impatience since he was forced to remain in London to await instructions concerning questions raised…

GLC03675

24 December 1823

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Letter signed

Title: [Instructions to James Brown, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France]

Written by Quincy Adams as Secretary of State to Brown as American Ambassador to France. Lists 14 items he included with instructions, including: a commission for his post, a letter of credence to King Louis XVIII, full powers for negotiating commerce and navigation issues, a cypher to send coded messages, a letter of credit to the banks in Amsterdam to carry out his duties and draw his salary, various legal books, a passport, full powers to negotiate an end to slave trade, and a letter for Albert Gallatin, who he was replacing in France. Spells out salary and expense issues in detail and…

GLC03922

21 April 1824

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Letter signed

Title: to Edgar Mason

President Adams sends a copy of a letter from Edmund Gage to Massachusetts congressman Jeremiah Nelson (not included) to District Attorney Mason. Asks Mason to verify the claims in the letter; if they are true "Captain Gage and his vessel may both be released, and the prosecution discontinued."

GLC04004

1821

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Book signed

Title: Report upon weights and measures.

An attempt to synthesize history, philosophy and physics into a coherent whole that illuminates the nature of human relations. Recommends the adoption of the metric system, as a blessing that will lead to "the improvement of the physical, moral and intellectual condition of man upon earth," by making stronger the "links of sympathy between the inhabitants of the most distant regions." Points to international suppression of the slave trade as a precedent for an international effort to standardize weights and measures. First edition. Inscribed by Adams to diplomat and politician Jonathan…

GLC04045

2 January 1832

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas L. McKenney

Adams offers advice on McKenney's work on American Indian tribes, "History of the Indian Tribes of North America." Adams, who had read the book's proofs, suggests defining terms like prairie for the European audience. Expresses his hopes that the book had gone into detail on the Shawnee prophet.

GLC04077

25 December 1814

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Fulton

Adams states that Levett Harris, then handling U.S. affairs in Russia, has learned from the Russian Minister of the Interior that Fulton is in danger of losing his "patent of exclusive privilege for his Steam-Boat invention" in Russia because he has failed to provide the required drawing and description. Adams reports that he has asked Harris to assure the Russian Minister of the Interior that Fulton was not guilty of neglect, but most likely never received Adams's letters on the subject due to "the extreme difficulty of the communications" in the war-torn winter of 1813-1814. He urges Fulton…

GLC04334

5 December 1826

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Newspaper

Title: [State of the Union address by John Quincy Adams]

President Adams' State of the Union for 1826 printed in an extra from the National Journal, a Washington, D.C. newspaper.

GLC04419

17 July 1798

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Silvanus Bourne

Refers to letter of Bourne's from 10 July 1798. Written to the American General Consul in Amsterdam. Tries to console Bourne about the publication of one letter and the false statements made about the contents of another that made him appear pro-French by Russell (possibly Boston newspaper publisher John Russell). Says the controversy is minor but that the explosive atmosphere in America after the XYZ affair will make it appear worse than it is. Claims the real letter would have been innocuous and the real controversy is the breach of trust of his correspondent. Says letter is short because…

GLC04403

18 November 1818

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph note

Title: to Henry Colman

Invites Reverend Colman to dinner. Written in the third person.

GLC04675.10

3 January 1824

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Letter signed

Title: to Manuel Eyre

Informs Eyre that his appointment as Director of the Bank of the United States is being forwarded to the President of the Bank [Nicholas Biddle]. With Eyre's draft response at bottom where he asks Adams to thank the President of the Bank for the confidence he has in Eyre.

GLC04578

22 August 1828

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Rush

Comments on "An Act for the relief of surviving officers and soldiers of the Army of the Revolution," Secretary of Treasury Rush's health, and the difficulty of his position. Anticipates Rush's resignation and thanks him for his service. Also discusses a classical essay by Rush's son, commenting on ancient Rome and the superiority of the statesman over the warrior. Docketed by Rush.

GLC04899

12 August 1826

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Printed document signed

Title: [Ohio land grant to Robert Parks of Harrison County, Ohio]

Partially printed document granting Robert Parks seventy nine acres in Steubenville, Ohio. Signed by John Quincy Adams as President and countersigned by George W. Graham as Commissioner of the General Land Office. Certificate No. 1251. Recorded in Vol. 3, p. 207. Features remnants of a paper and wax seal.

GLC04900.03

18 April 1801

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Pitcairn

Discusses their correspondence, personal matters, and politics. Mentions the "Silesian letters" and comments on the cession of Louisiana to Florida. Pitcairn was stationed at Hamburg. Sealed with black mourning wax.

GLC04900.01

16 December 1815

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Letter signed

Title: to Joseph Pitcairn

Written in the hand of Louisa Catherine Adams, requests that Pitcairn purchase and send Adams a copy of Johann Bode's "Uranographia," which contains "the most complete exposition of the starry Heavens, that has ever been exhibited." Mentions writing to Secretary of State James Monroe to obtain an appointment for Mr. Mowbray as Consul of the United States at Leith. Pitcairn was the U.S. consul in Hamburg. .

GLC04900.02

1837

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Pamphlet

Title: Letters from John Quincy Adams to his Constituents

JB00363

1839

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Book

Title: Jubilee of the Constitution

JB00367

31 July 1827

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Document signed

Title: [Patent for Simeon Brown's invention for moving brick, stone, or wooden buildings with the chimneys, furniture, and families therein]

Signed by Adams as President. Countersigned by Henry Clay as Secretary of State and William Wirt as Attorney General. Contains a seal and faded red ribbon.

GLC06237

1806

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848

Pamphlet

Title: Mr. Adams's Oration.

Elongated title on title page: "An Inaugural Oration, Delivered at the Author's Installation, as Boylston Professor of Rhetorick and Oratory, at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On Thursday, 12 June, 1806." Adams explains "the immeasurable superiority of ancient over modern oratory...The assemblies of the people, of the select councils, or of the senate in Athens Rome were held for the purpose of real deliberation. The fate of measures was not decided before they were proposed. Eloquence produced a powerful effect, only upon the minds of the hearers, but upon the issue of…

GLC06255