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Adams, Abigail Smith (1744-1818, wife of John, designated as AA in The Adams Papers):

Books and Reading

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quotes from and refers to the Bible47

quotes unidentified poetry17

biblical references11

comments on Paine's Common Sense 6

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193

quotes or alludes to Pope's Essay on Man 6

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quotes Pope's Satires of Horace 6

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70
71

Edward Young5

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French studies5

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311
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regards Chesterfield in his Letters a “Hypocritical, polished Libertine, a mere Lovelace,” who has moreover “exhibited a peculiar Asperity against the Sex”5

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93

Shakespeare5

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finds Sir William Temple rewarding for information on Netherlands and for parallels to JA's negotiations4

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xix
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Milton's Paradise Lost, quoted4

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79
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quotes Aesop's Fables(?)4

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quotes Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac(?)4

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reads Rousseau on JA's recommendation4

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125
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Sterne4

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176
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studies French by reading plays4

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8
15

Bolingbroke's “Reflections upon Exile”3

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14
18

Buchan's Domestic Medicine 3

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29

David Ramsay3

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exempts Tristram Shandy only from her reading of Laurence Sterne3

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93

in French language3

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James Thomson a favorite poet, but AA adapts text to her purpose3

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quotes and refers to La Rochefoucauld's Maxims 3

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quotes Milton's Paradise Lost 3

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Racine's Athalie, other plays at French Comedy3

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refers to and quotes The Spectator 3

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requests copy of Chesterfield's Letters 3

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Swift3

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William Gordon3

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acknowledges receipt of newspapers and pamphlets from JA2

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alludes to and quotes Addison's Cato 2

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alludes to Swift's Journal of a Modern Lady 2

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asks for Journals of Congress 2

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comments on Molière2

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David Humphreys2

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has little knowledge of Latin2

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James Thomson2

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James Thomson admired and quoted by2

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257

Paine's American Crisis, No. II 2

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Paine's “American Crisis,” quoted2

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Pope Clement XIV2

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Pope's Essay on Man, quoted2

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praises Richardson, even Pamela 2

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quotes Dr. Price2

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259
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197

quotes Poisson's Procureur arbitre 2

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quotes Pope's Messiah 2

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quotes Pope's “Prologue to Mr. Addison's Cato”2

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39
40

quotes Pope's “The Rape of the Lock”2

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69
71

quotes Prior's “An English Padlock”2

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391
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49

quotes Shakespeare's Hamlet 2

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quotes Swift2

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210
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31

quotes Thomas Otway2

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quotes Thomson's Sophonisba 2

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67
68

reads Barrow's Sermons 2

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reads Rollin's Ancient History 2

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347

recommends and sends books to family and friends2

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61
85

requests copy of Trumbull's M'Fingal 2

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Samuel Johnson2

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Samuel Richardson2

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Thomas Otway2

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Thomas Whately2

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William Buchan2

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acquires respect for accomplishments of French ladies from Shebbeare's Letters 1

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adapts Pope's “On Sir Godfrey Kneller”1

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404

Addison's Cato, quoted1

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admiration for Mrs. Macaulay and her writings1

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admires and quotes from the fable of the sparrow and dove in Edward Moore's Poems 1

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5

advises Tyler on studies1

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Aesop's fables1

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194

alludes to Samuel Johnson1

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362

Bolingbroke's political tracts quoted1

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Brydone's Tour through Sicily and Malta 1

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Cervantes1

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319

comments on Joshua Reynolds1

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313

describes architecture of French theater1

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during inoculation with smallpox1

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112

epitaph for Samuel Johnson1

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275

finds apt maxims in the Duc de Sully's Mémoires 1

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Fordyce's Sermons to Young Women 1

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61

Hester Piozzi1

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275

holds Burgoyne's style “intricate ... pompous ... and rather Bordering on the fustian”1

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6

Hume's History of England 1

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172

interest in reading and writing poetry1

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398

Isaac Watts1

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305

James Boswell1

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275

James Fordyce's Sermons commended for attitude toward women1

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331

John Dalrymple1

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362

John Fothergill1

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98

John Home1

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63

Milton1

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475

Nicholas Rowe1

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187

on the rearing and education of children1

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Plutarch1

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319

Prodicus of Ceos1

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78

quotes Hannah More's “Sir Eldred of the Bower”1

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363

quotes Horace's Epistles 1

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176

quotes John Gay's Shepherd's Week(?)1

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175

quotes Montaigne1

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391

quotes observations in James Harrington applicable to present state of Britain1

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quotes Pliny (the Younger?)1

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149

quotes Pope1

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362

quotes Pope Clement XIV's Interesting Letters 1

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268

quotes Sallust's Jugurthine War 1

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284

quotes Shakespeare's Othello 1

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368

quotes Shakespeare's Tempest 1

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303

quotes Thiéry's Almanach de voyageur à Paris 1

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40

quotes Thomson's Seasons 1

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69

refers to Dyanthe (Diana?)1

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189

refers to Machiavelli1

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210

refers to Mandeville's Fable of the Bees 1

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95

refers to Molière's Bourgeois Gentilhomme 1

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402

requests copy of Select Essays upon Husbandry 1

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Rochefoucauld1

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63

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, quoted1

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133

Solon the Lawgiver1

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470

Timothy Dwight1

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98

uses Dodsley's Preceptor 1

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Westminster Catechism1

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448

William Collins' “Ode” (“How sleep the brave”)1

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223

William Mason1

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194

will send books to Shaw children1

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134
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