Adams Papers

Enclosure: A List of Pamphlets and Newspapers, 25 April – 10 June 1780

Enclosure: A List of Pamphlets and Newspapers

Sent Apr. 25 a box markd Ɨ A.1

A Parcell of News Papers bound up 128 and 17 loose £1:15:9.2 Prior Documents3 1 vol 5s 6—administration Desected4 2s 6—Facts5 2s—Burkes speech6 1s 6—The Peoples barrier agt. Corruption7 2s 6—2 Epistles to Washington8 5s—Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe9 2s 6—Hartleys Letters to his Constituents10 2s—Do. to the York Committee11 6d—Considerations on the intended modification of Poinings Law12 1s—Watsons sermon on the fast13 1s—Observations on the Manifesto14 1s Letters from Ld. Carisfort to the Huntingdon Committee15 6d—List of voters on Dunnings motion16 6d.


May 6. 1780 in a bro[wn?] paper parcell markd as above. London Courant—London Packet—& Londn. Evg. Post—from May 1 to the 6th. inclusive and 3 other loose papers—making in all 18 Papers.


May 16—sent the Londn. Courant—Londn. Evg. Post—& London Packet from the 6th. to 16th. May inclusive making in all 16 papers. Also the following Pamphlets. Constitutionalis’s Letter to the People17 1s—History of Opposition18 1s—Dr. Price on the population of England and in answer to Eden19 2s 2s—Letters of Papinian20 2s—Remarks on Burgoines Expedition21 1s—dispationate thoughts on the Amern. War by Galloway22 1s—Letters to a nobleman on Do. by Do.23 2s—History of the Rise & progress of the Amn. Rebellion by Do.24 3s—Thoughts on the Consequences of Amn. Independence by Do.25 1s—Letters to Lord Howe by Do.26 1s—Examination of J. Galloway before the Ho. Commons27 2s.


May 27th. Sent a Continuation of the above mentiond News papers down to the 27th. May in all 20 Papers.


June 10—Sent a continuation of the news papers mentiond before down to this day in all 28 Papers also the following Books and Pamphlets—

History of the War in America Supposd to be written by the Revd. Mr. Boucher29 6s.

Burgoines state of the Canada Expedn. with maps30 6s.

The out of Door Parliament31 1s 6.

Acct. of the Rise & progress of the Amn. War32 6d.

Map of the harbour and opperations at Chs. Town33 18d.

The content of all or some notes that appeared on this page and the next in the printed volume has been moved to the end of the preceding document.

RC (Adams Papers); enclosure (Adams Papers); addressed: “Monsr. Monsr. Ferdinando Raymond San Paris”; endorsed: “W. S. Church 8 June. ansd. 28. 1780.” No reply bearing the date 28 June has been found, but see the undated Letterbook copy for which the date [28? June] has been editorially supplied (below).

1See Digges’ letter of 28 April, note 2 (above).

2Digges’ expenditures given here for newspapers and later for pamphlets were all interlined. It should also be noted that, except for Pownall’s Memorial mentioned in note 18, none of the pamphlets sent by Digges are in JA’s library at the Boston Public Library (Catalogue of JA’s Library description begins Catalogue of the John Adams Library in the Public Library of the City of Boston, Boston, 1917. description ends ).

3Digges’ notation would indicate that this was the supplement to John Almon’s Remembrancer entitled A Collection Of Interesting, Authentic Papers, Relative To The Dispute Between Great Britain And America; Shewing The Cause And Progress Of That Misunderstanding, From 1764 To 1775, London, 1777, but also known as “prior documents.” See, however, JA’s letter to Digges of [6–7? June], note 4 (above).

4Administration Dissected. In Which The Grand National Culprits Are Laid Open To The Public Inspection, London, 1779.

5Richard Price and John Horne Tooke, Facts: Addressed To The Landholders, Stockholders, Merchants, Farmers, Manufacturers, Tradesmen, Proprietors Of Every Description, And Generally To All The Subjects Of Great Britain And Ireland, London, 1780.

6Edmund Burke, Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. Member Of Parliament For The City Of Bristol, On presenting to the House of Commons, (On the 11th of February, 1780) A Plan For The Better Security Of The Independence Of Parliament, And The Oeconomical Reformation Of The Civil And Other Establishments, London, 1780.

7John Cartwright, The People’s Barrier Against Undue Influence and Corruption, London, 1780.

8No pamphlet selling for 5 shillings with this title or one approximating it has been found.

9This was Thomas Pownall’s A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed To The Sovereigns of Europe, On The Present State of Affairs, Between The Old And New World, London, 1780. By the time Digges sent this copy, however, JA had already read and produced his own version of Pownall’s pamphlet (A Translation of Thomas Pownall’s Memorial, 19 April – [ca. 14 July], above).

10David Hartley, Letters On The American War. Addressed To the Right Worshipful the Mayor and Corporation, To the Worshipful the Wardens and Corporation of the Trinity-House, And To the Worthy Burgesses of the Town of Kingston Upon Hull, London, 1777 (1st edn.). An eighth edition was published in 1779 (T. R. Adams, American Controversy description begins Thomas R. Adams, The American Controversy, A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764–1783, Providence and New York, 1980; 2 vols. description ends , 2:556–558).

11David Hartley, Two Letters from David Hartley, Esq. M.P. Addressed to the Committee of the County of York, London, 1780.

12Hervey Redmond Morres, 2d viscount Mountmorres, Considerations on the Intended Modification of Poyning’s Law, London, 1780.

13Richard Watson, A Sermon Preached Before The University Of Cambridge, On Friday, February 4th, 1780, Being The Day Appointed For A General Fast, Cambridge, England, 1780.

14Since Digges interlined “1s” above this entry, it seems likely that it is a separate publication. From the price given and publication notices, it may have been William Augustus Miles, Observations On The Answer Of The King Of Great Britain To The Manifesto, &c. Of The Court Of Versailles, London, 1779 (T. R. Adams, American Controversy description begins Thomas R. Adams, The American Controversy, A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764–1783, Providence and New York, 1980; 2 vols. description ends , 2:660–661).

15John Proby, 1st earl of Carysfort, Copy of a Letter from the Right Honourable Lord Carysfort to the Huntingdonshire Committee, London, 1780.

16The list of the division in the House of Commons on Dunning’s motion on 6 April appeared in the London Courant of 12 April, and then was printed separately and announced for sale in the London Courant of the 13th. For Dunning’s motion, see JA’s letter to the president of Congress, 17 April, No. 46, and note 2 (above).

17Constitutionalist, Letters to the Electors and People of England, Preparatory to the Approaching General Election, London, 1780.

18James Macpherson, A Short History Of The Opposition During The Last Session of Parliament, London, 1779.

19Richard Price, An Essay on the Population of England from the Revolution to the Present Time. With an appendix containing remarks on the account of the population, trade, and resources of the kingdom, in Mr. Eden’s letters to Lord Carlisle, London, 1780. The two sums interlined by Digges would seem to indicate that he sent two publications, the Essay and the Remarks, but no evidence has been found that the two were pub­lished separately.

20Charles Inglis, The Letters Of Papinian: In Which The Conduct, present State and Prospects, Of The American Congress, Are Examined, London, 1779. This pamphlet was first published by Hugh Gaine in New York (Evans description begins Charles Evans and others, comps., American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America 1639–1800, Chicago and Worcester, 1903–1959; 14 vols. description ends , No. 16311) and then reprinted in London (T. R. Adams, American Controversy description begins Thomas R. Adams, The American Controversy, A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764–1783, Providence and New York, 1980; 2 vols. description ends , 2:650– 651).

21Remarks On General Burgoyne’s State Of The Expedition from Canada, London, 1780.

22Dispassionate Thoughts On The American War, London, 1780, was by Josiah Tucker, the dean of Gloucester, not Joseph Galloway.

23Joseph Galloway, Letters To A Nobleman, On The Conduct of the War In The Middle Colonies, London, 1779.

24Joseph Galloway, Historical And Political Reflections On The Rise And Progress Of The American Rebellion, London, 1780.

25Joseph Galloway, Cool Thoughts On The Consequences to Great Britain of American Independence, London, 1779.

26Joseph Galloway, A Letter To The Right Honorable Lord Viscount H—e On His Naval Conduct In the American War, London, 1779.

27The Examination Of Joseph Galloway, Esq; Late Speaker of the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania. Before The House Of Commons, In A Committee On The American Papers, London, 1779.

28Blank in the manuscript.

29No history of the Revolution attributed to Jonathan Boucher has been found nor can the history sent by Digges be positively identified because of the many similar titles published during the period. It may be, however, An Impartial History Of The War In America, London, 1780, which has been attributed to Edmund Burke and was published in June 1780 (T. R. Adams, American Controversy description begins Thomas R. Adams, The American Controversy, A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764–1783, Providence and New York, 1980; 2 vols. description ends , 2:717–718).

30John Burgoyne, A State Of The Expedition From Canada, As Laid Before The House Of Commons, By Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, And Verified By Evidence, London, 1780.

31The Out-of-Door Parliament. By a Gentleman of the Middle Temple, London, 1780.

32John Wesley, An Account Of The Rise and Progress Of The American War, London, 1780. This piece was extracted from Galloway’s Letters to a Nobleman on the Conduct of the War in the Middle Colonies (T. R. Adams, American Controversy description begins Thomas R. Adams, The American Controversy, A Bibliographical Study of the British Pamphlets About the American Disputes, 1764–1783, Providence and New York, 1980; 2 vols. description ends , 2:707).

33This is “A Plan of the Military Operations Against Charlestown,” London, 1780. Published on 27 May, this map is reproduced in Kenneth Nebenzahl, ed., Atlas of the American Revolution, Chicago, 1974, p. 168– 169.

Index Entries