Executed in 1766, during one of Adams' visits to Salem, this is the only portrait depicting Adams during his years at the bar when, according to his own later description he looked “like a short, thick, fat Archbishop of Canterbury.” See 1 JA, Diary and Autobiography   ix, and vol. 2:106, below.

This portrayal of the landing of the British troops in 1768 shows something of the commercial and maritime aspects of Boston's North End. Paul Revere was the engraver. See Clarence S. Brigham, Paul Revere's Engravings 58–64 (Worcester, 1954).

A fine example of Adams' fee scale, of the writ form he used, and of his occasional collection problems. Note that although the debtor was William Whitmarsh, part of the fee arose from Adams' activity in an action between Isaac and Joseph Tirrell.

This is Adams' statement for legal services rendered from 1769 to 1772, set off by two guineas in cash (probably by way of retainer) and a set of the folio volumes of State Trials.

An unusual example of “real evidence” introduced by the respective parties in King v. Stewart,  No. 2. The upper document, introduced by Stewart, is a receipt in his hand; the lower document, introduced by King, is the threatening note.

A page from the 1769 volume, folio, showing the beginning of the record in Gill v. Mein,  No. 5.

The summons to the constables of Pembroke to cause the selection of grand and petit jurors for the May 1765 Superior Court sitting at Plymouth.

The complete panel of grand and petit jurors for the May 1765 Superior Court sitting at Plymouth, indicating the veniremen excused, sick, and not selected, as well as the lineup of the two trial juries.

This view of the Pitman Diorama in the Widener Library shows three shire towns (court seats): Cambridge—the courthouse being the building with a cupola, across from the church—Charlestown (center background), and Boston (right background).

Two pages from Minute Book 89, showing the adjournment of the February 1769 term and the opening of the August 1769 term.

Two pages of the Minute Book, covering the opening of the April term, 1769, “the first Sessions in the new Courthouse, in Queen Street,” and showing a sampling of the court's administrative functions.

The preliminary examination into any unexplained death was the duty of the coroner's jury; the result of its investigation was the inquisition, signed by the coroner and all the jurors. This example, although not connected with Adams' practice, is typical; it concerns Timothy Mirick of Springfield, whose death “by the misfortune of the Bite of a Rattle Snake” in time inspired the ballad “Springfield Mountain.”

This Marblehead merchant owned the Merrill, whose insurance furnished the stakes in Bancroft v. Lee,  No. 10, and Crowinshield v. Lee, No. 11.

Brother of Harvard's Professor John Winthrop, Clerk of the Superior Court of Judicature, and John Adams' social companion; see 1 JA, Diary and Autobiography   345, 356, 357; 3 id. 299.