ABSTRACT
In his will dated 22 July 1794 – just over a year before his death –George Adams junior left the instrument business, and the stocks and copyrights of all his writings, to his widow Hannah Adams. The copyrights and printed stocks of books written by George junior belonged to his widow Hannah absolutely. Hannah moved quickly to establish her position: the lord chamberlain's books show that she was appointed mathematical instrument maker to his majesty sometime in August (the precise date is not entered), in other words within a fortnight of the death of her husband. Hannah evidently thought she could carry on the Adams instrument and bookselling business indefinitely: it was not uncommon for widows to continue to run their late husbands' businesses, especially if the manual work involved had been done by employees or subcontractors.
