Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 2
1829-01-13
Morning at the Office. Massachusetts Reports. I was occupied some time in hunting about the Town for some Coal, which is rather scarce. Found some for my Office at last. Read over the case upon Insurance, and examined some of the special Statutes of the State. In the afternoon, commenced reading Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations which I propose to study with attention.1 It is quite interesting. Evening, Dr. Boswell and Johnson’s smaller Works, particularly his Taxation, no Tyranny, which is flimsy.
A set of The Whole Works of Adam Smith, 4 vols., London, 1822, is in the Stone Library. JA’s copies of Smith’s Wealth of Nations, one published in London, 1778, 2 vols., and a French edition published in Yverdon, 1781, 6 vols., are in the Boston Public Library (
Catalogue of JA’s Library
, p. 232).