Student mathematical textbook of James Freeman, 1774

Manuscript volume containing portions of text copied from Nicholas Saunderson’s Elements of algebra, Nicholas Hammond’s The elements of algebra, and John Ward’s The young mathematician’s guide. The volume is divided into two main parts: the first is titled Concerning the parts of Arithmetick (p. 1-98) and the second, The elements of Algebra, extracted from Hammond, Ward & Saunderson (p. 99-259).

Alphabetical catalog of Harvard College graduates through 1767, 1767

This hard-bound manuscript catalog alphabetically lists the men who graduated from Harvard College between 1642 and 1767. It is believed to be the first such list compiled. Entries contain each graduate's surname (in English), given name (in Latin), year of graduation, and occasional additional information. Francis Foxcroft (A.B. 1712) compiled the catalog. Entries for those who graduated between 1764 and 1767 have been added at the end of each alphabetical section.

Theses, in Comitiis publicis Harvardini Collegii quod est Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum, defensae & pro viribus propugnatae a Juvenibus in Artibus initiatis, [1660-1753]

The bound volume holds handwritten transcriptions of selected Harvard Commencement Theses copied by Isaac Mansfield (Harvard AB 1742). The manuscript volume holds only the Theses chosen for public disputation. The volume includes Theses transcriptions for which no original broadsides are known to still exists.

Diaries of Benjamin Guild, 1776, 1778

These diaries of Benjamin Guild document his travels as a Presbyterian pastor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The daily entries describe people Guild met and dined with, the food he ate (including strawberries, currants, watermelon, English cherries, and lobster), the funerals he attended, and the sermons he gave. Many entries relate to his health concerns (the ague and eye trouble), sleeping habits, and widespread public health concerns (including smallpox, dysentery, "nervous fevers," consumption, and "putrid fever"). The diaries also contain passing references to the activities of American, British, French, and German soldiers during the American Revolution; the invasion of Canada and battles occurring in New York are noted. In August 1778, after visiting Providence, Rhode Island, Guild comments on the disordered state of the city after American soldiers passed through it. He also recounts a visit by officers of the French fleet to the Harvard College library in September 1778 and describes his dinner on board the French man-of-war, Sagitaire. One entry describes an elaborate ball sponsored by John Hancock, held for French soldiers and "Boston ladies," and another refers to the "incursion" of Indians. Many of Guild's diary entries pertain to his work as a Harvard College Tutor; these entries describe his lectures at the College, meetings with colleagues, personnel decisions, and the examination of students. He also describes books he is reading and his opinions of them, the purchase and sale of books, and his desire to learn Hebrew and French. In addition, multiple entries refer to a man named Prince, who was perhaps Guild's slave. Prince sometimes accompanied Guild on his travels.

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."

Letter of recommendation for Amos Main from Joseph Moodey to Nathan Prince, 1725 July 2

Handwritten letter sent by Joseph Moody, schoolmaster in York, to Harvard Tutor Nathan Prince recommending student Amos Main for acceptance to the College. In the letter, Moody requests Prince give Main an examination for admission, with the caveat that though Main has been studying Latin and Greek he has a difficult home life and is "somewhat Raw; yet I hope you'l wink at it." The letter, dated July 2, 1725, is written on a folded folio-sized leaf; there are handwritten notes about Massachusetts towns on the verso.

Compendium physicæ ex authoribus extractum, 1714

Manuscript copy of Charles Morton’s Compendium Physicae prepared by copyist Robert Ward in 1714. The leather-bound volume includes text and drawings, and there is an index to the chapters of the book at the end of the volume. "Thomas Greaves's book Octob 1 Anno Salutis 1714" inscribed on flyleaf. Thomas Greaves may refer to the Charlestown physician and judge and member of the Harvard Class of 1703.

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.

Student notebook of Ebenezer Parkman, 1720

The small hardcover notebook contains a manuscript copy of Charles Morton's Natural Philosophy copied by student Ebenezer Parkman (Harvard Class of 1721) in 1720, as well as notes on Hebrew grammar. The flyleaf has a faded note, "[This copy] was probably made by Parkman H.U. 1721 afterward minister of Westboro." The title page of the volume includes the handwritten title "Phylosophia Natvralis: Naturall Philosophy, By the Reverd Mr. Charles Morton Pastor of a Church in Charles Town, Beegan [sic] to recite it December 11, 1720 Willm Brattle's Book 1720 ended January 30 Anno Domini 1720 [January 30, 1720/1721]." The final page of the transcription is signed and dated "June 18, 1720 Parkman." The last pages of the volume consist of notes on Hebrew Grammar titled "Instruction in Hebrew."

Enchiridion ethicum ad theses contractiores redactum in usum pupillorum, p. D. J. L., 1694

Forty-six-page notebook in modern hardcover binding containing John Leverett's edited version of Henry More's "Enchiridion ethicum" transcribed in Latin in 1694. The last page of the document includes entries in Leverett's hands: "Colom // January 17 1690/1," "Winth // January 31 1692/3", and "Vaug // Marty 10 1695/6." The inscriptions and notes likely refer to Benjamin Colman (Harvard AB 1692), Adam Winthrop (Harvard AB 1694), and George Vaughn (Harvard AB 1696).

Student mathematical notebook of Thomas Noyes, 1793

This sewn volume contains Noyes’ mathematical exercises in geometry; trigonometry; surveying; measurement of heights and distances; plain, oblique, parallel, middle latitude, and mercator sailing; and dialing. Many of the exercises are illustrated by carefully hand-drawn diagrams, including a mariners’ compass and moon dials.

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.

Some account of a paper call'd the Telltale, begun in colledge Sept 1721

The small leather-bound volume holds two sections, a manuscript student periodical, and written tête-bêche, an exchange on smallpox inoculation followed by notes on the rules and activities of a Harvard College student club. The volume begins with thirteen numbered manuscript issues, written in one hand, of the Tell-Tale running from September 9, 1721 to November 1, 1721. Prefaced, "This paper was entitl'd the Telltale or Criticisms on the Conversation & Beheavour of Scholars to promote right reasoning & good manner," the work is modeled after literary periodicals of the time, including the "Spectator," and is considered the oldest student publication at Harvard. The periodical appears to have circulated in manuscript form. The content varies in format and includes letters between Telltale and correspondents, short essays, and advertisements. Topics discussed include conversation, detraction, and flattery. While not specifically about Harvard it does provide some information about the College including evidence of various student activities and organizations at Harvard in the 1720s. The entry explaining the rules of the Telltale Club is heavily faded and nearly illegible. The Telltale records multiple dreams, which are populated by various characters, such as “beautiful” Kate, two “learned Physicians” debating inoculation, “four Fellows” “pushing and shoving one another,” and a “person of a very Dark & swarthy complexion in a Slovenly Dress with 7 patches & 5 sparks on his Face.”

An abridgment of what I extracted while an undergraduate at Harvard College, 1766-1769

The bound volume contains excerpts copied by Benjamin Wadsworth from books he read as a student at Harvard in the late 1760s. The volume includes almost no personal commentary on the readings. The excerpts are arranged by year of study for the academic years 1766-1769, beginning when Wadsworth was a sophomore. Each entry begins with a title indicating the book title and author for the passage, and there is an alphabetical index at the end of the volume. Wadsworth selected “extracts” from both religious and secular texts including several histories of England, American histories (with a focus on Puritans), the Bible, and in his senior year, “the Koran of Mohammed.” He also read several books on the art of speech and the art of preaching. There are few science texts included, though the final five-page entry is titled, “What I thought fit to note down from Mr. Winthrop’s experimental Lectures” and contains notes both on the content of Professor John Winthrop’s lectures as well as the types of experiments being performed in class. Wadsworth’s commonplace book offers a window on the state of higher education in the eighteenth century and offers a firsthand account of academic life at Harvard College.

Commonplace book of Clement Weeks

Commonplace book containing a transcription of the "The Book of Harvard," a satirical account of the Butter Rebellion of 1766 followed with supplementary text of "The Arguments in Defence of the Proceedings of the Scholars" and "The Confession that was made after all was done." The above occupies pp. 1-14; pp. 15-18 missing. Pages 19-23 hold excerpts from Edward Young's Conjectures on Original Composition. Pages 24-62 hold excerpts from Saint Augustine's Heresies. Finally pages 62-64 hold an excerpt of Druidical maxims from the introduction of the first volume of Paul Rapin de Thoyras' The History of England (1724).