Two volumes of John Quincy Adams' diary are expected out next year. We edit without changing spelling, capitalization, and punctuation to give a better flavor of the writer's education, of their idiosyncrasies, and even of regional dialect. Though the collection is owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society, its publication is a joint venture, with publication costs being borne by the Harvard University Press. The Press publishes the volumes under its most prestigious imprint, Belknap Press. The Press typically sells between 600 and 800 copies over several years, though it has sold thousands of copies of the more popular volumes.
Buyers are mostly libraries and other institutions.
Users of the collections range a bit more broadly, from history buffs to family genealogists to scholars researching everything from life in the 17th and 18th centuries to thoughts of the Founding Fathers on the Constitution. Scholars don't have to wait on the steps of the Harvard University Press for the next volume, however. Those with a pressing need to see the documents can refer to the microfilm version of the collection, on 608 reels, at about 90 libraries in the United States and elsewhere. Though John Adams' papers have been compiled in the past, the volumes being published by the Harvard University Press will be the most complete, according to the editors, who say they are publishing the complete diaries and many letters that have never before been published. Though not every letter will be published, each that is left out will be listed to make a complete reference source.