Diary, 1734

The diary is interleaved in Nathaniel Ames’ An Astronomical Diary: or, An Almanack for the Year of our Lord Christ, 1734 ... (Boston, 1734). The thin soft-cover book is handsewn in marbled paper, and holds single-line entries about Eliot’s daily life. The entries are brief and irregular and include mention of the weather, visits to Boston, occasional birth and death notices, and in the later months, church attendance (often to hear the Rev. Nathaniel Appleton). Eliot intermittently mentions his studies.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 February 8

Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley with a lengthy discussion on a recent comet and related calculations.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 February 16

Two folio-sized leaves containing a three-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley regarding comet calculations and a short criticism of the sermons of Samuel Cooper (1725-1783).

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 March 13

Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley briefly mentioning book purchases and discussing Joseph Priestley's Disquisitions relating to matter and spirit.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 March 22

Two octavo-sized leaves containing a three-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley discussing the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 April 6

Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley discussing Joseph Priestley's Disquisitions relating to matter and spirit, and possible references to astronomical phenomena in mythological stories. Winthrop briefly mentions a 1769 Harvard student poem attributed to his classmate Jonathan Williams Austin (1751-1779; Harvard AB1769).