A catalogue of books in the College library: [which Benjamin Welles wished to read], 1797

In this small paper-bound catalog, Benjamin Welles (1781-1860) listed books in the Harvard College Library which he wished to read. He presumably compiled the list by consulting the Library's 1790 printed catalog, as the works are categorized according to subjects outlined in that catalog (Antiquities, Astronomy, Ancient Authors, Biography, Sacred Criticism, Ethics, Geography, Geometry, History, Nature, Travels / Voyages, Natural Law, Logic, Metaphysics, Miscellaneous Works, Dramatic, Phililogy, Natural Philosophy, Poetry, Rhetoric, and Theology). The final pages of Welles' catalog, which he titles "Another Selection," list additional volumes he wished to read. These are listed alphabetically, A - G. Some titles throughout the catalog have been marked with a "+" perhaps to indicate that Welles had read them.

Title taken from title page, with bracketed addition made by cataloger.

Previously classified as "UAIII 50.27.97" and called the "Welles Catalog."

Pencilled note on title page in the hand of Harvard Librarian John Langdon Sibley reads: "This appears to be a list of books in the College Library, which was made out for the writer's private reading. J.L.S. 1842."

Two specific dates are written on the catalog: August 22, 1797 on the cover, and September 24, 1797 on the verso of the title page. It is unknown if these are the exact dates of the catalogs' compilation, or simply two days among others in which Welles made entries.

Prominent financier Benjamin Welles was born in Boston on August 13, 1781. His father, Samuel Wells (1725-1799) was a successful Boston merchant who graduated in Harvard's Class of 1744, and his mother, Isabella Pratt Welles, was daughter of Chief Justice Pratt of New York. Like his father, Welles attended Harvard College, graduating with the class of 1800. Following graduation, he studied law with Levi Lincoln of Worcester, Massachusetts and with Harrison Gray Otis of Boston. In 1803 he went to Europe for further study, and he spent part of 1804 traveling in Europe with a classmate, the painter Washington Allston. Upon his return to Boston in 1804, Welles became involved with an iron mining organization in Vergennes, Vermont. By 1816 he was involved in family banking endeavors with Samuel and John Welles. Samuel established the first American banking house in France (Welles & Co.) and John and Benjamin ran an auxiliary business based in Boston. In 1815 Benjamin married Mehitable Sumner, the eldest daughter of Increase Sumner (fifth Governor of Massachusetts). They had three children: Elizabeth, Georgianna, and Benjamin. Following Mehitable's death, Welles remarried in 1831 to Susan Codman (1802-1877); they had one daughter. Benjamin Welles died suddenly of apoplexy in his Boston home on July 21, 1860.