Library record,

A torn manuscript page listing members' library accounts.

Ledger for the Classes of 1650-1663, 1649-1660

The leather-bound volume contains accounts for the Classes of 1650-1663 and Fellows. Many of the student bills were settled with payment in kind, often in the form of grain, apples, or livestock. The Steward's accounts with the College from 1656-1659 were entered on pages 295-303 and listed as "The steward is Creditor" and "The steward is Debitor." Credit entries include food, fuel, corn, and wages; debit entries list purchases and often identify the sellers.

Floor plan and notes for proposed building with chapel and hall, [ca. 1799]

Possibly drawn and written in the hand of President Joseph Willard. The proposed building would house a chapel, halls, chambers for scholars, and was to be built on the site of the first Stoughton Hall which was torn down in 1781.

Annotated almanac, 1759

Almanac containing a laid-in leaf and calendar pages with sporadic annotations of measurements, a note of the printer's markings on Winthrop and his wife's watches (January). The laid-in leaf includes personal entries about a measles outbreak (January), the death of his "negro man George" (May 13), the presence of bears in the area (September), the surrender of Quebec (October 16), the heights of Winthrop's son Jemmy and a "new negro boy" named Scipio, and deaths in the community including the burial and baptism statistics for Boston.

"Fas est ab Hoste doceri," undated

One leaf containing a handwritten Latin exercise titled "Fas est ab Hoste doceri" and signed "Pearson." The page is torn.

1776, Catalogus eorum qui in Collegio Harvardino, quod est Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum, ab anno MDCXLII, ad annum MDCCLXXVI, alicujus gradûs laureâ donati sunt.

Covered in torn 1802 magazine print; title page missing. Handwritten note on top of first page: "Catalogue of the men Educated at Harvard College." Infrequent annotations in an unknown hand, typically noting alumni who became governors, or who held other high public offices. There are some annotations with places of residence.

Mr. Monis's computation about printing his Hebrew Grammar, [ca. 1734]

A one-page handwritten computation by Judah Monis for printing the Hebrew Grammar and binding it in sheep and calf skins. The document was written on one folio-sized leaf that is torn in two pieces.

[Letter from Thomas Clap to Royal Tyler,] 1764 August 1

One-page handwritten letter from Thomas Clap to Royal Tyler acknowledging his return of "Mr. Sewals Hebrew Grammar" to Tyler and noting that the work is "best especially for beginners." The letter is torn into three pieces and some text is missing. A portion of the missing text can be found in Box 4.

Resolution of the committee concerning the way through Rogers's farm, 1762 February 27

One octavo-sized leaf containing a one-page handwritten draft of a resolution by a Harvard Corporation Committee appointed to "lay out an High Way thro' Rogers's Farm & determine about the Cost of the Sd way & the making the fences to enclose it." The resolution permits the town of Waltham to lay a highway on the farm's property as long as it is enclosed by a stone wall.

Dominium temporale non fundatur in gratia (Commencement Quaestiones), 1697 July 7

Small paper notebook of John Ballantine with the handwritten Latin quaestiones performed by Ballantine, Eliphalet Adams, Adam Winthrop, and Jabez Fitch as candidates for the Master’s degree during the July 7, 1697 Harvard Commencement ceremony. The Quaestiones begin with Ballantine’s “Dominum temporal non fundatur in gratia,” and follow with “An Jesuitae possint esse boni subditi? Neg Resp. Dom. Winthrop,” "An Ethnicae virtutes sint verae virtutes?" Neg. Resp. Dom. Adams,” and “An detur omnibus an sufficiens ad salutem? Neg. Resp. Dom. Fitch.” The title page bears the inscription: “Jno Ballantine’s Book” and the first page has been torn out.

Student compositions of Washington Allston, 1799

Handwritten essay about procrastination and a poem celebrating spring composed by Washington Allston while he was an undergraduate at Harvard. The essay uses a story about a young Italian named Bernardo to discuss the consequences of procrastination. The essay is labeled “Allston Novem. ’99" and is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem "The Complaint," “Procrastination is Theif [sic] of time.” Allston’s poem celebrates spring and incorporates Phillida and Corydon, two characters from Nicholas Breton’s poem “Phillida and Cordion.” The poem is titled with the verses, “Chief, lovely spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes, / The smiling God is seen” from James Thompson's poem “Spring.” The poem is labeled "Allston July 10, 1799."

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley (fragment), 1783

One folio-sized leaf containing a one-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley briefly mentioning certain library acquisitions and including a transcription of a description of English Parliamentarian John Bourchier (1595-1660) from the Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow. The top of the leaf is torn and text is missing.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1785 December 20

Two octavo-sized leaves containing a one-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley briefly mentioning the purchase of the Pentaglot Lexicon. The second leaf is torn and a fragment, but no text is missing.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1787 November 10

Two octavo-sized leaves containing a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley discussing the Federal Constitution and the balance of power between the states and federal government. The second leaf is torn.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1788 December 7

One octavo-sized leaves containing a one-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley mentioning the shipment of a French version of the Henriad, The paper is torn.