II. Butler bills, 1788-1794

The Butler's bills are printed quarterly bill forms that the Butler completed with his name, the name of the student, the specific quarter and its ending date, and the total owed for "permitted articles." In some years the form included a space to input the amount for "Wines and other permitted Liquors."

Declaration signed by Harvard students to not speak in the vernacular for one year, 1712 August 23

The declaration, handwritten in Latin and signed by members of the junior and sophomore classes (Harvard Classes of 1714 and 1715), promises that the undersigned will not use the vernacular but instead "whenever, at meals, at banquets,...in our rooms, in all our gatherings, wherever and whenever" will speak in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew through the next May. Additional Latin text appears on both the front and back of the document. The original is accompanied by a typed transcription and two partial handwritten translations. Note at top of original: "Script. Leonardo Dowding, Composit. a Tho. Foxcroft."

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

The pamphlet-sized manuscript includes "The Book of Harvard" signed "Joseph Cummings, scriptis, Janr 7th 1767," an untitled two-page essay beginning, "Wisdom is ye Crown of life" and ending "Draught of Knowledge, let us with a laudable ambition, strive to excel each other in an ardent pursuit of Learning, then shall we raise to ourselves a monument of honest fame, which shall perish only in ye general wreak of nature," and on the last page, "An Accrostick" beginning "Jangling & Discord are thy Souls delight" and spelling out JAMES MITCHEL VARNUM dated July 3, 1767 and signed "The 3d edition revised & improved by Gove & Fogg."

Letter from David Phips to Colonel Jonathan Snelling regarding escort of Governor Hutchinson to Harvard Commencement, 1773 July 12

David Phips wrote this letter to Colonel Jonathan Snelling from Cambridge on July 12, 1773, to inform him that Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson had requested the accompaniment of guards during his travels from Milton to Cambridge on July 21, 1773, to attend the Harvard College Commencement exercises. In the letter, Phips informs Snelling that he has issued warrants to the guards, instructing them to congregate at the Sign of the Grey Hound in Roxbury, Massachusetts at eight o'clock on the morning of the 21st. He explains that twelve other men will march, under the command of Sub-Brigadier Sumner, to the Governor's home in Milton to escort him to Roxbury, where the larger party will assemble. These heightened security measures were certainly prompted by political unrest, although this is not stated explicitly in the letter. Phips concludes by saying: "I shall order a dinner for us at Bradish's, where I hope to have the pleasure to dine with you."

Student mathematical proofs by Edward Stephen (?) Wigglesworth, 1788

Sheet with two handwritten mathematical proofs signed "Wigglesworth, 1788," likely referring Harvard student Edward Stephen Wigglesworth. The first proof, titled "Problem 1st," examines a prompt beginning, "Given the distance between the Centers of the Sun and Planet, and their quantities of matter; to find a place where a body will be attracted to neither of them." The second proof, titled "Problem 2d," begins "A & B having returned from a journey, had riden [sic] so far that if the square of the number of miles..." and asks "how many miles did each of them travel?"

Notice of trial in the case of Jonathan Fish [et al.] v. William Betts, 12 April 1774

Document addressed to Thomas Hicks (attorney for the defendant) informing him that Scott (attorney for the plaintiff) intends to bring the case to trial "at the next Supreme Court of Judicature to be held for the Province of New York." Signed by Scott.

Judge's notes on cases heard in Lincoln County (Maine), 1788-1789?

Includes notes and summaries of witnesses' testimony on cases involving contracts and land disputes. One pamphlet bears note "Lincolns. July 7th 1789. Pownalboro. Supreme Court." Pownalborough Court House is in Dresden, Maine, which succeded from Pownalborough. In 1804, the town Pownalborough was renamed Wiscasset.

Oratio salutatoria, habita in comitiis apud Cantabrigienses Harvardum, 6to Julii, 1718

This small soft-cover notebook contains a manuscript copy of the valedictory address given at the July 6, 1718 Harvard Commencement by graduate John Eyre. The fly leaf lists six names of individuals who died in 1720. The text includes edits and struck-through words.

Philosophia naturalis ex authoribus extracta per dominum

This leather-bound volume contains a manuscript copy of Charles Morton’s Compendium Physicae copied by Harvard student Obadiah Ayer in 1708. The volume has text and drawings (including one large foldout drawing), and there is an index to the chapters at the end of the volume. Mather Byles (Harvard Class of 1725) also used the book.

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.

Student notebook of Jonathan Trumbull, 1724-1725

The bound notebook contains academic texts copied by Harvard student Jonathan Trumbull in 1724 and 1725. The volume includes transcriptions of Harvard Instructor Judah Monis' Hebrew Grammar, Tutor William Brattle's Compendium of Logic, and Fellow Charles Morton's Natural Logic.

Salutatory address of Jonathan Trumbull, 1759

Three-page manuscript copy of the salutatory address composed in Latin by graduate Jonathan Trumbull for the 1759 Harvard Commencement. The item is dated June 29, 1759.

Valedictory address of Jonathan Trumbull, 1762

Four-page manuscript copy of the valedictory Commencement oration composed by Jonathan Trumbull for the 1762 Harvard College Commencement.

Sermon notes compiled by Warham Williams, 1716-1718

Parchment-bound notebook containing notes kept by Warham Williams on sermons he attended between May 20, 1716 and April 20, 1718, while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The notebook includes two chronological tables, at the front and end of the volume, that list the town, lecturer (generally Harvard tutors), biblical text, year, month, day, and part of the day of sermons attended by Williams. The volume contains one-to-two page entries on specific sermons and provides the biblical text and related questions and conclusions. From the front of the volume, the pages contain entries for sermons attended between May 20, 1716 through February 13, 1717. Sermon entries for April 7, 1717 to April 20 1718 are written tête-bêche from the other end of the volume.