Some account of a paper call'd the Telltale, begun in colledge Sept 1721

The small leather-bound volume holds two sections, a manuscript student periodical, and written tête-bêche, an exchange on smallpox inoculation followed by notes on the rules and activities of a Harvard College student club. The volume begins with thirteen numbered manuscript issues, written in one hand, of the Tell-Tale running from September 9, 1721 to November 1, 1721. Prefaced, "This paper was entitl'd the Telltale or Criticisms on the Conversation & Beheavour of Scholars to promote right reasoning & good manner," the work is modeled after literary periodicals of the time, including the "Spectator," and is considered the oldest student publication at Harvard. The periodical appears to have circulated in manuscript form. The content varies in format and includes letters between Telltale and correspondents, short essays, and advertisements. Topics discussed include conversation, detraction, and flattery. While not specifically about Harvard it does provide some information about the College including evidence of various student activities and organizations at Harvard in the 1720s. The entry explaining the rules of the Telltale Club is heavily faded and nearly illegible. The Telltale records multiple dreams, which are populated by various characters, such as “beautiful” Kate, two “learned Physicians” debating inoculation, “four Fellows” “pushing and shoving one another,” and a “person of a very Dark & swarthy complexion in a Slovenly Dress with 7 patches & 5 sparks on his Face.”

At the other end of the volume, written tête-bêche, there is a fourteen-page exchange titled "An argumentative dialogue, concerning Inoculation between Dr. Harry & Mr. Waitford." Dr. Harry argues in defense of inoculation and Mr. Waitford against the practice. Their argument includes discussion of religion and the relationship of inoculation to blood letting and vomiting. The piece has a concluding note "Compos'd about 3 weeks before I was Inoculated." Following the dialogue are seven pages of society records titled "An account of a Society in Har: Colledge" that includes a list of subscribers, a summary of the lectures presented, with the questions discussed.

Title is transcribed from volume itself.

"Andrew E. Thayer" written on one flyleaf, "E. Turelli liber" written on second flyleaf.

Gift of William Cary Sanger (Harvard AB 1874) and Francis Randall Appleton (Harvard AB 1875).

Manuscript.

Ebenezer Turell was born February 5, 1701/2 in Boston. He received an AB from Harvard in 1721 and an AM followed in 1724. He was minister of Medford, Massachusetts. As a minister he preached in support of smallpox inoculation. He died on December 5, 1778.

An article about the volume, by William C. Lane, appears in the Transactions of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Volume 12, 1908-1909 pp. 220-231.