Docket and fees book / 1791-1797

Records of cases heard in the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas (Middlesex Co.) in Cambridge, Mass., and the New Hampshire Inferior Court of Common Pleas (Hillsborough Co.) in Amherst, N.H and matters brought before justices of the peace. Records identify the litigants, with some notes on fees and settlements; many of the cases concern debts. Justices of the peace include: Israel Atherton (Lancaster, Mass.); Samuel Dana (Amherst, N.H.); Joshua Longley (Shirley, Mass.); Nathaniel Paine (Worcester, Mass.); James Prescott (Westford, Mass.); Jeremiah Stiles (Keene, N.H.); William Swan (Groton, Mass.); Sampson Tuttle (Littleton, Mass.); and Henry Woods (Pepperell, Mass.).

[ Order to the sheriff of Bucks County], 1731

An order to the sheriff of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for twelve men to serve on a jury in the trial of John Borrowes, for an unspecified crime. Signed: Jeremiah Langhorne (justice of the peace); dated 14 June 1731. With seal. With this document (originally attached) is the list of jurors chosen to serve at the trial.

Docket book, 1774-1800

Contains list of names of parties in legal disputes arranged chronologically. Little information is given about the nature of disputes.

Diary of Elias Mann, 1796-1800

Elias Mann kept this diary during his undergraduate years at Harvard College. The diary begins August 17, 1796 and ends in August of 1800 and also includes several undated sheets filled with excerpts of poems. The daily entries describe many aspects of Mann's life, including not only his experiences at Harvard but also his involvement in the larger community. Entries related to life at Harvard describe club meetings (coffee club, Hasty Pudding Club and Phi Beta Kappa); trips to the theater; dinners at taverns; games and recreation, including a card game called "Loo," cribbage, backgammon, bowling, playing ball, fishing, skating and going for sleigh rides; gathering, and sometimes taking from others' gardens, food (most often plums, peaches, nuts and apples); what he ate (including one breakfast of three raw eggs and two glasses of wine); what he read (including Tristram Shandy and one of "Mrs. Ratcliffe's novels"); his friends, often mentioned by name; and academic work and formalities. In one entry he mentions the theft of several possessions from his room, and there are several entries about trips to Fresh Pond.

Student notebook of James Blake on Hebrew grammar, 1767

A small paper notebook containing eight-pages of English notes on Hebrew grammar and Hebrew script written by Harvard undergraduate James Blake in 1767. The title of the first page, "Of Nouns," is annotated with the note, "Benj'm Wadsworth, 1767" and the recto of the back cover contains a personal note to "Rev'd Mr. Wadsworth" signed "J. B.," presumably referring to Benjamin Wadsworth (1750-1826; Harvard AB 1769).

Hope: a poem delivered at an exhibition in Cambridge, July 10, 1800

This four-page handwritten poem was composed by Harvard student Joseph Mansfield for a College exhibition on July 8, 1800. The poem begins, "I am not blesd, but may hereafter be; / Who knows what fortune has in store for me?" and concludes with verses about the American Revolutionary War and George Washington.