Memoirs were the American Academy's first serial publication. They were the primary outlet for the publication of papers communicated to the Academy. A wide variety of topics were covered by the Memoirs and the publication also included lists of members, gifts, the Academy's statutes, and eulogies on special occasions.
The first volume of the Memoirs appeared in 1786, containing some fifty-four papers. The title page gave 1785 as the publication date, but various issues delayed its appearance until the following year. The first volume was issued in 1785, five years after the Academy's founding. The original series had four volumes (to 1821); a second series was issued in nineteen volumes from 1833 to 1946; the terminal volume in 1957 was called Series 3, Volume 24 in continuation of the total number of volumes in the first and second series.
Editorial supervision was exercised by three committees on mathematical, physical, and medical topics, and the volume reflected these divisions. Emphasis was on practical knowledge and included ten papers by authors who were not members of the Academy. Papers in the “Physical” section (including natural philosophy, natural history, and technological devices and processes) formed the majority of the volume.
From the preface of this first volume of Memoirs:
Let it only be added, that, settled in an extensive country, bordering upon the ocean, and open to a free intercourse with all the commercial world…the citizens have great opportunities and advantages for making useful experiments and improvements, whereby the interest and happiness of the rising empire may be essentially advanced. At the same time enjoying, under a mild and steady government, that freedom, which excites and rewards industry, and gives relish to life—That freedom which is propitious to the diffusion of knowledge, which expands the mind, and engages it to noble and generous pursuits. . . May they ever be as virtuous and industrious as they are free! May a spirit for advancing every kind of knowledge, that can redound to their honor, and promote the emolument and happiness of themselves and their country, more and more prevail! And may all their laudable endeavors, to further the good of mankind, be crowned with success adequate to their highest wishes!
The Memoirs of the Academy from this first issue through 1957 are available at JSTOR.