Robert Borthwick Adam

Robert Borthwick Adam (1833–1904) was a retailer and book collector from Buffalo, New York. In 1867, Adam co-founded the department store Adam, Meldrum & Whiting. Adam's home at 448 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, built in 1876, still stands.

Biography

Adam was born in Peebles, Scotland, February 4, 1833 to the Rev. Thomas Adam and Isabella Borthwick. He left school at the age of 10 and went to work in Edinburgh, where he lived until 1857.^[1] In 1855 he married Grace Harriet Michie. In 1857 Adam left Scotland for the United States. He first settled in Boston and in 1867 moved to Buffalo. In 1872, Adam adopted his nephew 1867-1940), who also took the name Robert Borthwick Adam.^[2] Among's Adam's philanthropic activities were a longstanding involvement with the Buffalo YMCA which he served as President from 1897 until his death.^[3]

As a collector

In the 1880s, Adam began collecting rare books and manuscripts related to English Literature, with a particular focus on Samuel Johnson.^[4] The collection passed to his son, who continued to add to it. In 1931, the scholar L.F. Powell called the collection "unrivalled and without a competitor." ^[5] The collection was purchased by Donald and Mary Hyde in 1948 and now forms part of the Hyde Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University.^[6]

References

1. Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York New York: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1906-08, p. 151.
2. Adam, R. B. (Robert Borthwick), 1863-1940. R. B. Adam papers, 1846-1948: Guide.
3. Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York New York: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1906-08, p. 152.
4. Catalogue of the Johnsonian Collection of R.B. Adam. Buffalo: privately printed, 1921.
5. "The R. B. Adam Library Relating to Dr. Samuel Johnson and His Era," review by: L. F. Powell in The Review of English Studies, v. 7, no. 26, April 1931, p. 230.
6. Adam, R. B. (Robert Borthwick), 1863-1940. R. B. Adam papers, 1846-1948: Guide.