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Papers — John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)

A comprehensive published collection of John Quincy Adams papers does not yet exist. John Quincy Adams's papers are part of the Adams Papers project at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The project, through Harvard University Press, plans to publish the papers of the Adams family from 1753-1889. To date, however, a relatively few number of volumes have been published. The editors at the Adams Papers project have divided the project into 4 series:

• Series I: Diaries
• Series II: Adams Family Correspondence
• Series III: General Correspondence and Other Papers of the Adams Statesmen
• Series IV: Adams Family Portraits

Material related to John Quincy Adams can be found in the Diaries, Family Correspondence, and the Portraits series.

• Diary of John Quincy Adams The first 2 volumes of John Quincy Adams's diary were published in 1981 covering the years 1779 - 1788.
• Adams Family Correspondence. 6 of a projected 14 volumes from the Adams Family Correspondence series have been published. The published volumes cover the years 1761-1785. These volumes include family correspondence from the entire Adams family.
• Portraits of John Quincy Adams and his Wife 1 vol. An illustrated volume including all known life portraits, busts, and silhouettes of John Quincy and and Louisa Adams.

The best available resource for the unpublished material at the Massachusetts Historical Society remains the microfilm collection of the Adams Papers. Comprising 608 reels of film, this collection includes all of the published and unpublished Adams family material housed at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The microfilm collection is available at a number of libraries throughout the world, including Alderman Library at the University of Virginia through which the Scripps Library has access.

Between 1874 and 1877 Charles Francis Adams (John Quincy's son) published a 12 volume edition of John Quincy's diary, The Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of his Diary from 1795-1848. In his editorial process, Charles Francis chose to omit much of John Quincy's writing. However, until the Adams Project finishes their complete edition of the diary, Charles Francis's edition will remain the best available published version.

In 1913 Worthington C. Ford published a 7 volume set of John Quincy Adams correspondence and memoranda, Writings of John Quincy Adams. This edition only covers the years up to 1823.

For the official papers of Adams during his Presidency, see James Richardson's Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. This retrospective compilation was published in several different editions. The final edition was published in 1918 in 20 volumes. This edition covers the Presidencies of Washington through Taft and includes a significant portion of Wilson's Presidency. The contents of the Compilation are typically limited to official proclamations, addresses, and messages.