“A Great Variety of Books”: The Confiscation and Redistribution of the Libraries of Boston’s Loyalists, 1776 to 1779

ABSTRACT Thousands of books from the private libraries of Boston’s loyalist population were confiscated by the wartime government of Massachusetts in the spring of 1776. Most were sold at auction over the next several years. Drawing on records at the Massachusetts Archives, this article tells the story of the seizure, inventory, and ultimate disposition of the confiscated libraries. While most prior scholarship on seized loyalist properties has focused on lands and estates, from a book-historical perspective the distribution of the loyalist libraries—the largest sale of books in Boston during the wartime period—offers an important glimpse into the book culture of Revolutionary Boston and provides a useful springboard for future research.