Lectures on Hebrew and Oriental Literature, delivered in Harvard College between the years 1765 and 1782, by Stephen Sewall, AM, AAS Hancock Professor, Volume 1 1765-1767

The volume contains handwritten copies of lectures delivered by Sewall to students, an 1780 letter from Antoine Court de Gébelin written in French and glued into the front inside cover, a preface to the set of lectures, an autobiographical sketch of Sewall, and the statutes governing the Hancock Professorship of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages.

Professor Sewall's Lectures on the Hebrew and Oriental Languages, Vol. 2d, 1767-1780

This volume contains lectures delivered by Sewall to Harvard students. The first lecture in the volume, Lecture XV, was read on March 9, 1767; October 8, 1770, August 22, 1774, and December 13, 1778. The last lecture in the volume, Lecture XXVII, was read on June 13, 1768; May 4, 1772; July 29, 1776; and June 5, 1780.

Professor Sewall's lectures on the Hebrew and Oriental languages, Vol. 3d, 1768-1780

This volume contains lectures delivered by Sewall to Harvard students. The volume begins with a continuation of Lecture XIV from Volume 2. The first complete lecture in the volume, Lecture XXXIV, was delivered August 29, 1768; May 18, 1772; September 23, 1776; and June 19 1780. The last lecture in the volume, Lecture LV was delivered February 11, 1771, November 7, 1774, and May 31, 1779.

[Power of attorney between Stephen Sewall and Thomas Wigglesworth], 1794 August 21

This one-page printed form appoints Thomas Wigglesworth as the "true and lawful Attorney" for Stephen Sewall. The form is notarized by Samuel Barrett and witnessed by Barrett and his daughter Peggy Barrett.

[Copy of a letter from Mehetabel Preble to her son Stephen Sewall], 1768 January 23

Handwritten copy of a January 23, 1768 letter from Mehetabel Preble to her son Stephen Sewall transcribed by Sewall. The bottom of the page is cut off and some text is missing. In the letter, Preble mentions Sewall's news of the birth of her granddaughter, the death of one of her sons, and discusses her health and approaching death, and the absence of God's "divine light." The item includes the note: "NB. The above letter was rec'd 18th March, 1768. My mother died the 4th day of the same month," and an extract from a February 29, 1768 letter from "Brother Crosby" regarding Preble's illness and anticipation of death.

List of books donated by John Martin, Stephen Sewall, and others, undated

Endorsed: "Books from several gentlemen."

Letter from Stephen Longfellow to Daniel Appleton White, 1799 May 29

Stephen Longfellow wrote this letter in Portland, Maine on May 29, 1799; it was sent to his friend, Daniel Appleton White, in Medford, Massachusetts. In the letter, Longfellow describes the Election Day festivities among the "plebeans" in Portland, which he apparently found both amusing and upsetting. He compares the horses pulling their sleds to Don Quixote's horse, Rocinante. He also writes about mutual friends, including John Henry Tudor and Jabez Kimball, and bemoans the behavior of the current members of Phi Beta Kappa among the Harvard College undergraduates, whom he insists have sunk the society below its former "exalted station."