A prayer to Christ, undated

Short handwritten poem beginning, "Suffer me not Oh Christ to be..."

A Mourning Ditty: On the Conflagration of Harvard Hall in Cambridge New England. On the 24th Day of January 1764, [1764]

One-page handwritten copy of "A Mourning Ditty" signed "Philomusus Or A lover of the Muses"describing in a classical style the burning of Harvard Hall. The transcription is signed "Correctly Translated from the Printed Copy, by Peter Thacher." Thacher's translation is of the Latin poem "Threnodia" that appeared on the front page of the Massachusetts Gazette on February 2, 1764.

"A competence is vital to content; Much wealth is corpulence, if not disease" (manuscript essay), 1799 March 30

Three-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster with a story about a wealthy young Englishman named Francis who discovers that money is not the source of happiness. The essay is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem, "The Complaint." Buckminster's essay begins, "Francis was the son of a rich English nobleman."

"Procrastination is the thief of time" (manuscript essay), 1799 November 26

Four-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster on the consequences of procrastination. The essay begins, "Moralists of every age & nation, from wise, proverbial Solomon to 'poor Richard' of our own times, have united in recommending industry, as one of the most necessary virtues." The essay is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem, "The Complaint," and ends with two lines from Horace beginning, "Est modus in rebus ; sunt certi denique fines..."

A Poetical essay (manuscript copy owned by John Simpkins), 1782

Paper-covered notebook with a handwritten copy of John Davis's 1781 Commencement poem. Cover inscription: “John Simpkin[s's] Property.” Inside front cover inscription: “A poem delivered Mr. Davis 1782."

A Poetical essay delivered at Commencement H. College, July 18th AD 1781, by Mr. Jno Davis (manuscript copy), ca. 1780s

Paper-notebook copy lacking covers with a copy of John Davis's 1781 Commencement poem. The Harvard College Library stamp is on the front page.

A Poetical Essay deliver’d at Commencement, July ye 18th 1781, (manuscript copy owned by David Daniells)

Folio-sized paper unattributed copy of John Davis's 1781 Commencement poem. The last page is no longer attached. The last page is inscribed “From your Humble Ser’t David Daniells" and the verso has the phrases: "The amiableness of religions" and "Constantinople burnt to ashes."

[Ethics and Moral Philosophy book list, 1790]

One leaf containing a handwritten list of books with one column marked "Ethics" and the other column marked "Moral Philosophy." Entries contain the author's last name and abbreviated title. The page is inscribed "Vose," likely referring to Roger Vose (Harvard AB 1790), and the verso has a fragment of a poem.

A Poetical Essay delivered at Commencement July ye 18th 1781 (manuscript copy), ca. 1780s

Paper notebook lacking covers with an unattributed copy of John Davis's 1781 Commencement poem. There are sums calculated on the back cover verso.

Description of a College Chamber (manuscript copy), ca. 1744

This humorous, rhyming poem appears to have been co-authored by Thomas Handcock of Massachusetts and Richard Waterman of Warwick, Rhode Island. The document is also signed by Catharine Waterman. Neither of the authors attended Harvard College, and the circumstances of this poem's creation are not known. The poem suggests that they composed the poem while visiting - uninvited - the room of "honest Bob." The poem describes the contents of this college chamber, including the following items: an oak table with a broken leg; paper, a pen, and sand for writing; books, including "Scotch songs," philosophy, Euclid, a book of prayer, Tillotson, and French romances; pipes and tobacco; mugs; a broken violin; copperplate and mezzotint prints; a cat; clothes; two globes; a pair of bellows; a broom; a chamber pot; a candle in a bottle; tea; cups and saucers; a letter to Chloe, to whom the room's inhabitant apparently owed money; a powder horn; a fishing net; a rusty gun; a battledore; a shuttlecock; a cannister; a pair of shoes; and a coffee mill. The poem references events related to the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748); British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon's siege of Portobello (in present-day Panama) in 1739; the "Rushian War" (perhaps the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743); and the War of Jenkins' Ear (the cat in the college chamber, like British Captain Robert Jenkins, has lost an ear).

A plan of Cambridge Green, 1780 September 14

Small pen-and-ink and watercolor drawing of Cambridge Green created by Harvard senior John Davis, presumably as part of his undergraduate mathematical coursework. The map surveys Cambridge Commons and includes a few rough outlines of College buildings and the Episcopal church, and notes the burying ground, and the roads to Charlestown, Menotomy, the pond, Watertown, and the bridge. The original handwritten text is faded and was annotated with additional text by Davis including the note "[taken in my Senior year at H. College Septr 1780] Surveyed in concert with classmates, Atkins, Hall 1st, Howard, Payne, &c.- J. Davis." There is a note that "Atkins afterwards took the name of Tying." Davis refers to Dudley Atkins Tyng, Joseph Hall, Bezaleel Howard, and Elijah Paine, all members of the Harvard Class of 1781.

Notebook of Obadiah Ayer, 1708-1716

The leather-bound notebook contains academic texts copied by Obadiah Ayer while he was a student at Harvard, and after his graduation in 1710. There is a general index to the included texts at the end of the volume.

Collection of humorous verses and sketches relating to Harvard College, 1769

Manuscript volume in various hands containing three general sections: satirical poems about Harvard tutors, a section of "last words & dying" speeches of Harvard tutors, and a copy of the Book of Harvard."

Short nomenclator or vocabular in English and Hebrew: composed alphabetically for the use and benefit of my pupils in particular and for the advantage of those who are desirous to obtain the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue in general, which may be that great help to understand not only ye sacred oracles in their original, but even any Jewish author (so far as concern owns) as also it may give great insight in ye tongue to those, as to compose it, a work altogether new, [ca. 1735]

Headed on the first page with the words "Nomenclatura hebraica," this handwritten volume is a vocabulary with the Hebrew word in the left column, and the English translation on the right. While the book is arranged in sections by letter, individual entries do not appear in strict alphabetical order. The small vocabulary varies greatly and includes entries like enigma, excommunication, and martyr, as well as cucumber and maggot. There are translations of the astrological signs at the end of the volume. Poem written at the bottom of the last page in different hand: "Women when good the best of saints/ that bright seraphick lovely/ she, who nothing of an angel/ wants but truth & immortality./ Verse 2: Who silken limbs & charming/ face. Keeps nature warm."

Poems copied by James Diman, ca. 1730-1733

Small pamphlet-sized notebook containing handwritten transcriptions of three poems copied by James Diman, likely in the early 1730s. The notebook contains "The Catholic Remedy. to ye Tune of To all you Ladies, not at land &c.," "Father Ab--y's Will. Col. Sweeper Camb: Dec. 1731," and "The Poet's Lamentation for ye Loss of his cat, w'ch he used to call his Muse" copied from the London Magazine, November 1733. The "Catholic Remedy" begins "You Peope who desire to mend / your Desperate Estate..." and includes the note, "Made upon A--D--'s goving over to take orders. The note refers to the voyage of Addington Davenport (Harvard AB 1719) to England join the priesthood of the Church of England in 1730. "Father Ab--y's Will" begins "To my dear Wife, / My joy and Life..." and was a humorous poem published in 1731 after the death of Harvard College Sweeper Matthew Abdy, and attributed to Jonathan Seccombe (Harvard AB 1728). The "Poet's Lamentation" begins "Oppress'd with Grief, in heavy strains I mourn..." and was written by Joseph Green (Harvard AB 1726) as a parody of a psalm composed by Mather Byles (Harvard AB 1725). Pages 10-12, holding part of "Father Ab--y's Will" are missing, and pages 13-15 are no longer attached to the item.