Papers of John Adams, volume 20
rSir,
o;
dFeby 1790.
I shd. not have troubled you with a
Letter—but upon the peculiar instance of having received a Letter from Messrs; Wilhem of Amsterdam, a few Months ago; in which he states
in consequence of the receipt of a Letter from you—he has made Enquiry about your
Volumes of the Defence of the American states &c—but cannot find any of the Second Volume—1 I immediatly returned for answer—Fifty Copies of that Volume were Shippd the 8th; Sepr; 1787—on board the Maraggratha, Cap t; Doorn
2—and on the 27 March following 50 Volume
3
d— It is strange if the Parcels containing the 1
st.& 3
dVolumes had been opened—That the omission of the second Volume Sh
dnot have been found out for the space of two Years. I directed upon the receipt of a second Letter last Nov
r;M
r;Ingram, my Shopman and—who has the conduct of all orders—and Parcels going into the Country—or Shipped for Exportation—To state the Day—and date of Sending the Parcels. Supposing M
r.Wilhem may have written to you on the Subject—I thought it expedient in me to explain that no imputation of neglect sh
d.be placed to my charge of omitting to forward an Equal Number of the 2
dVolume as I did of the First & Third. As a greater Number of the second Volumes were sent to Amer
a;than the Third—I have not a Copy of the second to make up a set—and—on this acc
t.I have requested a friend to Enquire of M
r;M
c.Kean whether his Books
r;3 has any of that Volume left, above the Number of the Third—and sh
d.it be so, to return—Ten or a dozen Copies of that Volume only—as I have First—and Thirds.
The Copies of Dr: Gordons Hist: of the
American Revolution After the Subscribers were supplied—amounted to about Two hundred
and they are now all sold—which is a fortunate circumstance to the Worthy Doctor—who is
now fixed with a small congregation at St. Neotes about
Fifty miles North of Londo;— He is a Worthy honest
Man—contented with a trifle—and lives happy and chearful with his Little Flock.4 I hope your Lady and Family Enjoy the
blessing of health—and with my sincere wish for the continuation of all other temporal
comforts—I rest Dr sir, Your faithful & Humbl Servt;
s;Dilly
RC (Adams Papers).
See the Willinks’ letter of 8 Dec. 1789, and note 1, above.
The Margaretha, Capt. Klaas Doorn,
departed Gravesend on 25 Sept. 1787 and arrived in Amsterdam on 5 Oct. (London Public Advertiser, 27 Sept.; London Gazetteer and New
232
Daily Advertiser, 24 Dec.; from Wilhem & Jan Willink, 8 Dec. 1789,
above).
JA sent copies of his
Defence of the Const.
,
via Thomas McKean, to be sold at the South Second Street bookstore of Thomas Dobson
(1751–1823), an Edinburgh native and a leader of Philadelphia’s literary scene (JA, Works
, 10:269;
Jefferson’s Memorandum Books
, 2:887; John Rennie
Short, Representing the Republic: Mapping the United States,
1600–1900, London, 2001, p. 103).
Rev. William Gordon was preaching at St. Neots in Huntingdonshire, England (vol. 18:241).