Mr. Marsh's catalogue, ca. 1764

A half-page handwritten list of books with the author's surname, title, and location in the old Harvard Library, signed "Mr. Marsh." The list includes the note, "Shuckford's Connection is charged to you." The document is undated but presumably was created following the Harvard Hall Fire of 1764 as part of the College's efforts to inventory volumes that were spared because they were checked out at the time of the fire. Many of the books are listed in a charging record for Thomas Marsh recorded in a Harvard library account book (UAIII 50.15.60, Volume 1, Box 95), including "Shuckford's connection" which was charged to Marsh on September 23, 1763.

Title transcribed from document verso.

The verso of the document contains a fragment of a text signed by student Kenneth McKenzie (Harvard AB 1768), indicating the book list was created some time after McKenzie entered Harvard in the fall of 1764.

Thomas Marsh (1711-1780), Harvard College librarian, tutor and fellow, was born on January 20, 1710/11 in West Hingham, Mass. He received an AB from Harvard in 1731 and an AM in 1734. On May 20, 1737, Marsh was appointed College librarian, and held the position until 1741, when he began preaching in Rutland, Mass., and became a tutor at Harvard. On August 20, 1755, Marsh was elected a Fellow of the College. He held both of these positions until 1766, when he married Hannah Sprague, thereby becoming illegible to be a tutor. As of 1775, he was teaching school in Watertown; that same year he was appointed as Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County. Marsh died in Watertown on September 22, 1780.

On the night of January 24, 1764, a devastating fire destroyed Harvard Hall, and with it Harvard College’s collection of scientific instruments ("philosophical apparatus") and most of the books in its library. In the aftermath of the fire, librarians compiled lists of books which were in circulation and thus spared from the fire. They also kept lists of the many gifts and benefactions, large and small, which poured in from individuals and organizations to assist in the rebuilding of the library and apparatus.

Records of the Harvard College Library: Library charging records (UAIII 50.15.60) are also available in the Harvard University Archives.

Records of books spared from 1764 Harvard Hall fire and subsequent gifts (UAIII 50.27.64) are also available in the Harvard University Archives.