Papers of John Adams, volume 10
1780-12-20
Professor Henners in Utrecht has written to inform me that the bookseller Wild has imprisoned Mr. Cerisier under the pretext that he can only do his work at Utrecht, not at Amsterdam. This proceeding is as undignified as it is unjust. As I cannot leave at mid-day, I have written hastily to inform Mr. de Neufville of the same thing. Oblige me, sir, by acting in concert with him and, through your credence with the magistrate here, obtain Mr. Cerisier's freedom.1 I have the honor to be in haste, with a distinguished consideration, your very humble obedient servant.
The bookseller Bartholomé Wild employed Antoine Marie Cerisier as a writer, principally to work on his as yet uncompleted Tableau de l'histoire générale des Provinces-Unies, 10 vols., Utrecht, 1777–1784. When Cerisier left Utrecht for Amsterdam and thereby threatened the Tableau's completion, Wild took action (Schulte Nordholt, Dutch Republic and Amer. Independence
, p. 125–126). Whether JA played any part in obtaining Cerisier's release or resolving his dispute with Wild is unknown, but when Cerisier wrote JA on 15 April 1781 (Adams Papers), he was at Amsterdam at work on his periodical, Le politique hollandais.