Kenneth Wiggins Porter's two-volume work, The Jacksons and the Lees: Two Generations of Massachusetts Merchants, 1765–1844, is the first of two studies in the history of business to be presented to the members of the Business Historical Society during the present year. The presentation of the first study is made possible by the courtesy and liberality of Mr. Henry Lee Shattuck. This work by Dr. Porter, who will be remembered as the author of John Jacob Astor: Business Man, is in the nature of a composite business biography of a group of merchants throughout the long period from 1765 to 1844.