“Sir, I have received two of your Letters since your departure, a third which you speak of, never came to hands, but from the others I find with pleasure that you have met with the Countenance & patronage of the Gentlemen you mention & I sincerely wish they may prove of Service to you, tho’ I am concerned that you met with any neglect from the quarter you speak of however I am hopefull that the protection you have hitherto found will prove a good introduction to your Curious performance, & that its publication will tend to your reputation & Interest, to which I shall gladly Contribute as far as in me Lyes. I am obliged to you for your Intentions respecting the Dedication, which I should chuse to decline but that I would not disappoint your good intentions, tho’ I would check the flowings of a friendly pen which unrestrained might go farther than is consistent with my inclinations. “I return you your printed proposals, Subscribed to by myself & family with Two or Three others, which are as many as I have hitherto had an opportunity of Laying them before, & the time you spent in these parts has enabled you I presume to know enough of its Inhabitants not to be Surprised that a Work of that Nature shod meet with such Small encouragement. Sir John, Col. Johnson &c thank you kindly for the manner in which you have remembered them, heartily wishing you success, & be assured that I shall be glad to serve you in your undertaking as well as to hear of your prosperity being Sir, “Your real Well Wisher & very humble Servt “WM. JOHNSON.” Was there a publication of his book in Boston in 1770? In that encyclopedic biographical work in French, _Nouvelle Biographie Générall_, I, 214, in an article on Adair, it is said that he published an interesting work, entitled _History of the American Indians_, “Boston, 1770, in—4^o; reimprime a Londres en 1775.” The editor, intrigued by this statement, has made assiduous search and corresponded widely to secure corroboration of the statement as to such Boston edition. The particulars as to the format of the edition, differing materially from that of the London publication, and Adair’s announced intention (1769-70) to publish shortly seemed to lend support; but from every source the reply of leading bibliographers has been: No such edition is known, and, it is believed, there was none. This statement as to an edition in 1770 and the prospectus of the book of 1750 have been, to the writer, bibliographical ghosts, gliding in and out, exciting curiosity, and leading to search and yet further search—only to end in the bog of thwart. The like uncertainty attaches to more than one phase of the career of Adair, the man. It is clear that the manuscript of the book published at London in 1775 was revised after 1769-70. Events are narrated in the _History_ which occurred in the period 1770-74.