John Adams Library

Collections of rare books require constant care, from conservation and repair, to new description, storage, and housing. Over time, standards also change and practices for conservation and collections care need to be reassessed. Below is a brief outline of the some of the BPL's long-term stewardship activities for the Adams Library.

Early Conservation Efforts at BPL (1894-1980)

When the Adams Library was transferred to the BPL in 1894, many of the books in the collection were already at least a century old and were "in need of attention," according to a 1933 letter from Charles Francis Adams. In 1909, Brooks Adams wrote to the Director of the BPL to discuss the historical significance of the collection and ongoing conservation needs. In 1927, BPL Director Charles Belden wrote to then-Mayor of Quincy, Thomas McGrath, to inquire whether there might be funds set aside to assist with the ongoing upkeep of the collection; unfortunately, none were available.

Five years later, the Supervisors of the Adams Temple and School Fund -- to whom Adams had entrusted his books -- requested that BPL staff undertake a survey of the Adams Library in order to evaluate the condition of the materials and to estimate the cost of necessary repairs. Based on this survey and the recommendations of the Chief of the BPL Bindery, Acting President and library trustee Ellery Sedgwick wrote to Charles Francis Adams to discuss the care and upkeep of the Adams Library, estimating that roughly $5,000 would be needed for the repair of the books.

BPL ultimately added an annual budget for conservation of the Adams Library and by 1937, Keeper of Rare Books Zoltan Haraszti remarked, "Almost all of the books in the President John Adams Library that required repairs to their bindings, or even rebinding, have now been taken care of." In addition to the yearly conservation budget, additional city funds were approved specifically for the conservation needs of the Adams Library in 1966.

Conservation and Access into the 21st Century (1981-present)

Preservation of rare books is an ongoing process. Materials themselves degrade, while handling -- even the most careful sort -- can contribute over time to deterioration. This is particularly true in a public library, where collections are held so that they can be used.

By the late 1970s, then, it had become clear that a renewed campaign of conservation was needed to stabilize the Adams Library.

In 1981, the BPL received grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the establishment of an in-house conservation laboratory. When the new lab opened in 1982, a team of six conservators began working on Adams' books.

In 1987, BPL received another grant from the U.S. Office of Education to support the ongoing work of its conservation team. According to the BPL Annual Report for 1991-1992, the conservation project that had ended that year brought all the volumes in the Adams Library "as close to their original form as possible."

(Above right) A BPL conservator at work in the mid-1980s. (Above center) Slides from May, 1990 documenting conservation work on two volumes from the Adams Library, showing their condition before work began and after work had been completed

In 2022, the newly renovated Rare Books and Manuscripts Department officially reopened to the public. This new space, with a state-of-the-art, fully-equipped conservation lab, is secure and environmentally controlled. The Adams Library itself is housed in climate-controlled stacks, where it is visible through glass walls in the Special Collections lobby. Because of the extensive conservation performed on the collection between 1982 and 1990, BPL conservators today can provide remediation on an as-needed basis.

All Special Collections staff, including the conservation team, work together to ensure that materials from the Adams Library are available for public use in the Special Collections reading room now and for years to come. 

Electronic Cataloging

In 2003, BPL received several federal grants to support full electronic cataloging of the Adams Library, which would make the collection accessible from the library's existing online catalog. Prior to this, patrons either had to consult one of the older published catalogs or the card catalog in the Rare Books and Manuscripts department to locate specific items in the collection. The grants also provided funding for the transcription of Adams' marginal notes throughout his books.

By December, 2005, electronic cataloging of the John Adams Library was complete, with 1697 individual records representing 3,510 volumes. Loose manuscript material found within the pages of Adams' books was inventoried, removed, and placed into archival-grade storage boxes; these materials can be found in the artificial John Adams Papers collection in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department. Additionally, the Atlas Ameriquain Septentrional (1778), also knows as the "Adams Atlas," was fully conserved by the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), with funding provided by the Associates of the Boston Public Library.

As part of the efforts to conserve and catalog the Adams Library, staff sought additional ways to make the collection more accessible to patrons. Prior to the start of the electronic cataloging project, multiple volumes from the Adams Library underwent preservation microfilming. Preservation microfilming has been used throughout the Boston Public Library's collections to increase public access to fragile materials by providing durable, high quality images of collection items. In total, twenty-six volumes from the Adams Library were fully microfilmed.

In 2005, the development of Boston Public Library's in-house digitization studio led to the discontinuation of the planned microfilming of the entire Adams Library; instead, the Library would be digitized in order to provide higher quality images and greater access to the public. Two years later, digitization of the Adams Library began in earnest through the Internet Archive, with additional funding provided by the Sloan Foundation and the Internet Archive. By summer 2012, the entirety of the Adams Library had been digitized and was available online to the public.

To view the digitized Adams Library, visit the collection page on the Internet Archive. To search for specific volumes, we recommend either using the search function in the Internet Archive collection or the online catalog. For tips on searching the online catalog, please see the Searching and Browsing section in this research guide.

Below, left: A screenshot showing the John Adams Library landing page on the Internet Archive.
Below, right: A screenshot showing the 10 results for a metadata search for "blackstone" in the John Adams Library in the Internet Archive.