An archive of documents, correspondence, and ephemera regarding the estate of Seth Adams, prominent Boston inventor and businessman; concerning the purchase and development of The Adams Nervine Asylum, Jamaica Plains
Published by 1865-1885, 1865
- Used
Seller: Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA, Winchester, VA, U.S.A.Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA
AbeBooks seller since February 22, 1998
Condition: Used
£ 1,495.59
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Upwards of 200 pieces of manuscript material, including 7 calf bound pocket notebooks, several of which are disbound due to deterioration of the bindings; legal and patent documentation; and numerous pieces of correspondence to and from both Seth Adams, and John Barbour, detailing the complex processes, and emotional components, involved in bringing the Nervine Asylum into being. Correspondence and documentation all in very good condition or better, with the pocket noteboooks being thoroughly legible but in need of stabilization. Seth Adams was a Boston based inventor and businessman, prominent in local affairs, and at the time of his death in 1873 was in possession of a $1.5 million estate, a portion of which was required to go towards the building and upkeep of the Adams Nervine Asylum. Adams started out with his brother Isaac, manufacturing printing presses and equipment, before purchasing a sugar refinery and becoming one of the largest sugar producers on the East coast. On the occasion of Adams' death his estate passed into the custodianship of John Barbour, a highly respected Boston lawyer and former supervisor of the Boston Internal Revenue. Barbour was known for being meticulous and scrupulous in his dealings ("You will hear that he makes trouble, but not from honest men.") but clearly several of the recipients and interested parties in Adams' last will and testament (included here) felt that he moved too slowly, and suspected him of using the extensive fortune to feather his own nest. Several attempts were made to appoint someone less rigid as overseer, but Barbour remained in control of the execution of the bequest and ultimately succeeded in bringing the Nervine Asylum project to fruition. The majority of the projected works, monuments etc. were not completed until a decade after Adams' death, the asylum itself didn't open its doors for patients until 1880. The archive contains upwards of 200 pieces including Adams' will, court documents detailing probate and giving accounts of disbursement etc.; itemized records of Adams holdings, business interests, and considerable fortune, and the deceased's wishes for these assets. Detailed reports of all of Barbour's dealing with Adams, the family, and the executors, the extensive work he undertook for the estate after Adams died, and an account of the difficulties involved in consolidating Adams' rather far flung holdings, including a fascinating sheaf of material dealing with the securing of a patent for a brass pressure valve of Adams' design and creation. The archive additionally holds letters of complaint from the unhappy relatives, Barbour's rebuttals of their accusations, and all the of the required court rulings and documentation dealing with changing executors and the establishment of the Nervine Asylum. Other subgroupings of documentation present include patent material, a file of correspondence including drawings and pricing proposals for the monument to be erected at Adams' grave site, and a grouping of documents from Barbour's earlier career including dealings with revenue detectives, tax investigations, and renegade distillers of alcohol. The Asylum was incorporated in 1877 and opened in 1880. The purchase of the Jamaica Plain estate of J. Gardiner Weld, a commercial merchant who died c. 1876 prior to inhabiting his new mansion, was made possible by Seth Adams bequeathing $600,000 for the establishment of a curative institution for the benefit of "indigent, debilitated, and nervous people" specifying that the inmates be residents of the state with mental issues, but who could not be designated "insane". The endowment also allowed for patients who were not residents of the Commonwealth of Massachussetts "on payment of reasonable compensation for such treatment, the same to be determined by its managers." The Nervine Asylum was designed and maintained as a step far above that of the run of the mill 'lunatic asylum'; steam powered central heating, private rooms, hot.…
Seller Inventory # 85055
Bibliographic details
- Title
- An archive of documents, correspondence, and ephemera regarding the estate of Seth Adams, prominent Boston inventor and businessman; concerning the purchase and development of The Adams Nervine Asylum, Jamaica Plains
- Author
- [LUNATIC ASYLUMS] ADAMS, Seth [BARBOUR, John]
- Publisher
- 1865-1885
- Publication year
- 1865
- Seller catalogs
- History of Science & Medicine
Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA
Winchester, VA, U.S.A.
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 4.90 | £ 9.43 |
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Store description
We maintain an inventory of more than 50,000 items, including out-of-print and rare books, pamphlets, graphics, and ephemera, most in our specialty areas of Radical Thought and Modern Literature but including a large selection of fine books in all fields. Only a fraction of our inventory is catalogued for on-line sales. We also issue 2 to 4 printed catalogs each year of items in our specialisation. Though we are a private-premises business, our books are priced and organized for browsing. If you would like to visit our showroom, please contact us by e-mail or telephone as far in advance of your anticipated visit as possible. We'll do our best to accommodate you!…
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SOCIAL HISTORY, GRAPHICS & ORIGINAL ARTS, PROLETARIAN LITERATURE, RADICAL MOVEMENTSAssociation member
Seller's business information
Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA
661 Millwood Ave, Ste 206
Winchester, VA U.S.A. 22601
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Lorne Bair Rare Books, Inc.
661 Millwood Avenue, Suite 206
Winchester, Virginia USA
info@lornebair.com :: TEL: ++(540) 665 0855
Lorne Bair, Director :: Amir Naghib, Manager :: Bessie Mae Caniday, Investments Advisor
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