This volume would have been impossible without the assistance of many more people and institutions than can be listed on the title page. We greatly appreciate the work of Joanna M. Revelas, who provided translations of French documents, and of Hobson Woodward, who transcribed Adams documents for this and future volumes of the Papers of John Adams. Conrad E. Wright, Worthington C. Ford Editor of Publications at the Massachusetts Historical Society, undertook an early reading of the manuscript and his observations were of great value in completing the volume.

The assistance of old friends to the project is greatly valued and appreciated. Ellen R. Cohn, Jonathan R. Dull, and Kate M. Ohno of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin were always ready to answer our questions. Stephen Nonack, Head of Reference at the Boston Athenaeum; Edward B. Doctoroff, Head of Administrative Services at Harvard’s Widener Library; and the staff of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department at the Boston Public Library greatly facilitated our research at their respective institutions. And we remain indebted to Prof. Ward W. Briggs of the University of South Carolina for his Latin translations.

The support of the Harvard University Press for the publication of the Adams Papers volumes continues unabated and is greatly appreciated. We particularly would like to thank Assistant Director/Design and Production Manager John Walsh and Ann Louise Coffin McLaughlin, our former editor, now retired. The crucial support of Kevin Krugh and Steven Lee of Technologies ’N Typography in the production of this volume was also much appreciated.

We would also like to welcome three new and valued contributors. Inez Hollander Lake of Orinda, California, transcribed and translated Dutch letters and was always ready to answer our questions about them. Margarete Ritzkowsky of Tutzing, Germany, did the same for German documents, all of them written in a very difficult archaic script. Eric Stockdale of London, England, verified some elusive newspaper references.

Without the unrivaled collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the services of the Society’s learned and devoted staff this volume would have been impossible. Particular thanks go to William M. Fowler Jr., Director; Peter Drummey, Stephen T. Riley Librarian; Brenda Lawson, Associate Librarian and Curator of Manuscripts; Mary E. Fabiszewski, Senior Cataloger; Nicholas Graham, former Reference Librarian; Kate DuBose, former Assistant Reference Librarian; and Jennifer Smith, Photographic Services. We also greatly appreciate the contributions made by the Adams Papers Administrative Committee to the success of this project.