Adam Smith, the moral philosopher and political economist who wrote ‘An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations’, died In Edinburgh on 17 July 1790, aged 67.

To mark the day, here are four newspaper notices from 1790 that report on the death of Adam Smith.

We’d love to find out more about the papers that he destroyed before he died – the ones that he deemed ‘not fit for the public eye’. Hmm, it does make one wonder what he destroyed…

Hereford Journal – Wednesday 28 July 1790

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000397/17900728/024/0003

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Thursday 29 July 1790

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000221/17900729/015/0004

Stamford Mercury – Friday 30 July 1790

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000237/17900730/008/0003

Derby Mercury – Thursday 28 October 1790

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000052/17901028/008/0002