Robert Borthwick Adam (February 4, 1833 – June 30, 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, on February 4, 1833, to 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.Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York New York: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1906-08, p. 151. In 1855, he married Grace Harriet Michie. In 1857, Adam left Scotland for the United States. He first settled in Boston and moved to Buffalo in 1867. In 1872, Adam adopted his nephew Robert Borthwick Adam Scott (1863-1940), who then took the name Robert Borthwick Adam.Adam, R. B. (Robert Borthwick), 1863-1940. R. B. Adam papers, 1846-1948: Guide. Among's Adam's philanthropic activities were a longstanding involvement with the Buffalo YMCA which he served as President from 1897 until his death on June 30, 1904.Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York New York: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1906-08, p. 152.
As a collector In the 1880s, Adam began collecting rare books and manuscripts related to English Literature, with a particular focus on Samuel Johnson.Catalogue of the Johnsonian Collection of R.B. Adam. Buffalo: privately printed, 1921. 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.""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.
The collection was purchased by Donald and Mary Hyde in 1948 and now forms part of the Hyde Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University.Adam, R. B. (Robert Borthwick), 1863-1940. R. B. Adam papers, 1846-1948: Guide.
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