Note from William Croswell to an unidentified recipient, undated

Brief note from Croswell requesting a Latin Dictionary for a project.

Copy of letters from Edward Wigglesworth and Samuel Williams to John Lowell, 1781-1782

Two leaves containing a two-page handwritten copy of the letter from Professor Edward Wigglesworth to John Lowell dated January 3, 1781 (HUM 86 Box 1, Folder 1), and a one-page handwritten copy of the letter from Professor Samuel William to John Lowell dated October [14], 1782 (HUM 86 Box 1, Folder 2).

1782, Catalogus eorum qui in Universitate Harvardiana, Cantabrigiae, in republica Massachusettensi, ab anno MDCXLII, ad annum MDCCLXXXII, alicujus gradûs laureâ donati sunt.

Hand-sewn binding. Interleaved pages with biographical notes of varying length, usually on one to two alumni per page. Annotations are sporadic and generally note profession (such as "Juris" or "Med.") or residence. Annotations in different hands.

1794, Triennial catalogues annotated by William Winthrop, 1794-1812.

Leather and marbled hardcover binding. Substantially annotated. The volume consists of pages from the published catalogues pasted into a blank volume. The bulk of the volume is comprised of the printed list of graduate names found in the Triennial Catalogue accompanied by handwritten biographical information, usually a sentence in length. It begins with a handwritten section titled "Settled Ministers (in the first Parish in Cambridge)." The entries generally contain a residence, date of death (abbreviated ob), age of death (abbreviated ae), and professional information. While the 1794 Catalogue comprises the majority of the volume, names were added from Triennial Catalogues through the 1812 edition. An example of an entry, for John Hancock (Harvard AB 1754), reads “Rep. for Boston, Maj. Gen. Militia. Ob. Octo. 8. 1793 AE 57 Son of Rev. John of Brantree [sic]." A March 27, 1798 letter to Judge Richard Cranch (1726-1818) from Jeremy Belknap (1744-1798, Harvard AB 1762) pasted into the back of the volume. Written only two months before his death, Belknap describes his plan to "go thro’ the whole Catalogue of the graduates of Harvard College, & relate all that’s proper to be related." Four leaves of biographical notes for the classes of 1642-1686 towards the beginning of the volume are in a different hand with the note "Rev Dr. Holmes's handwriting."

1797, Catalogus eorum qui in Universitate Harvardiana, Cantabrigiae, in republica Massachusettensi, ab anno MDCXLII, ad annum MDCCXCVII, alicujus gradû laureâ donati sunt.

Hand-sewn binding with marbled paper cover. Annotated throughout with the number of members in each class, and through the 1660 class, with sporadic notes on residence. From 1732 until 1782, the age of entry as a Harvard freshman is noted next to each name. There are few biographical notes in this volume. Asterisks are added next to the names of alumni who died after the Catalogue's publication through approximately the late 1810s.

Guarantee of financial support for student James Savage, signed by William Tudor and John Cooper, 1799 July 25

This legal agreement, a guarantee of financial support for entering student James Savage (A.B. 1803), was signed on July 25, 1799 by his two guarantors, William Tudor and John Cooper. The document was also signed by two witnesses, William Tudor's sons John Henry Tudor and Frederic Tudor. The agreement specifies that, in the event of Savage's failure to settle all financial obligations to the President and Fellows of Harvard College during the course of his studies, the two guarantors would be responsible for a payment of two hundred ounces of silver. It seems that the Tudors and Cooper were relatives of Savage, thus explaining their desire to assure his entry to Harvard by entering into this financial obligation.

Letter from William Winthrop to William Bentley, 1810 November 24

Two octavo-sized leaves with a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from William Winthrop to Bentley responding to a request to return a book, speculating about the identity of Harvard graduate Peter Cutler (Harvard AB 1698), and questioning Bentley about the interests of "F. Moore," likely referring to Francis Moore (1782-1856).