SMITH, Adam.

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Autograph letter signed, to the Earl of Shelburne on the sickness of his son. One of very few remaining Adam Smith autograph letters in private hands, written to the Earl of Shelburne to detail the sickness of his son Thomas Petty-Fitzmaurice, Smith's student and lodger. Mossner & Ross's census counts 232 letters written by Smith, 53 of which could not be traced (p. vii). Virtually all are in public collections.While serving as professor of logic and moral philosophy at Glasgow University, Smith shared his residence with his more prominent students, giving direct tutoring and scholastic supervision. Smith's renown was such that he attracted members of notable and aristocratic families to Glasgow: the 1st Earl of Shelburne sent his son there, rather than Oxford, on Lord Minto's recommendation. Thomas Petty-Fitzmaurice (1742-1793), the earl's youngest son, lodged and studied with Smith from 1759 to 1761. Petty-Fitzmaurice later served as MP from 1762 to 1780; his brother William served as prime minister from 1782 to 1783."In a series of letters to Fitzmaurice's father Smith went into great detail regarding the boy's studies and behaviour, providing a number of insights into both the rigour of Smith's approach and the subjects he considered suitable for the education of a young noble . . . Fitzmaurice would spend two to three hours a day with Smith going over 'very regularly' the subjects he had covered in his lecture . . . It's clear from Smith's correspondence that the overall

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