Letter from Artemas Ward to Benjamin Stone, 1787 July 18

Artemas Ward wrote this letter to Benjamin Stone on July 18, 1787, expressing his concern about the expense of his son, Henry Dana Ward's, imminent studies at Harvard. Ward complains to Stone about his own debts and the failure of the government to honor their financial obligations to him, and he also expresses hope that the President of Harvard will allow his son to spend part of his time "keeping a school" during his freshman and sophomore years, thus earning an income sufficient to pay for his studies. Ward also suggests that it might be preferable that his son board with a respectable family, rather than live at the College.

Triennial Catalogue annotated by Jeremy Belknap, 1791

The collection holds a heavily interleaved 1791 Triennial Catalogue annotated, in part, by Jeremy Belknap. A note by Harvard Librarian John Langdon Sibley, on the verso of the flyleaf, indicates a second annotator: "It should be observed that this catalogue is in the handwriting of two persons, Dr. Belknap & probably interlineations & additions by Rev. Dr. [John] Eliot. The interlineing part should not be too confidently relied on for accuracy. J. L. Sibley, April 14, 1848." The volume contains biographical notes, newspaper clippings, excerpts from manuscript and printed sources such as New England's First Fruits, the manuscript memoirs of Charles Chauncey, and John Winthrop's Journal, and a 1795 letter from Isaac Mansfield. In the letter, Mansfield references an item he believed to be written by his grandfather, Ames Cheever (Harvard AB 1707), and briefly describes his grandfather. A list of election sermon orators with dates is also pasted into the inside back cover, along with an obituary of the Rev. John Wales (Harvard AB 1728) from the Boston Post-Boy, March 4, 1765.

A catalogue of books [donated by Jasper Mauduit] in the library of Harvard College [at]: Cambridge in New England, 1765

This leatherbound volume lists books donated to the Harvard College Library by Jasper Mauduit, who served as an agent in London on behalf of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. Entries are arranged alphabetically and by format; i.e. the first page lists all folios whose author, title, or keyword begin with "A," the next page lists all quartos beginning with "A," and the following page lists all "octavo &ca" volumes beginning with "A." The volume continues in a similar manner for each letter of the alphabet. Following a devastating fire in 1764 which destroyed most of the books in the Harvard College Library, Mauduit donated books, as well as money for the purchase of books, to the College. He also acted as an agent of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England and Parts Adjacent, using the £300 they donated for the rebuilding of the College library to select and purchase a large number of books. It is not known if the books listed in this catalog are those donated by Mauduit himself, or if they are the donations he purchased on behalf of the Society. The creator of this volume is unknown; although all entries are made in the same hand, the identity of the writer has not been determined. The label attached to the front cover, which refers to the Lime Street address of Mauduit's business in London, suggests that the list might have been prepared by Mauduit himself.

Harvard College Lottery Book, 1794-1797

The long hardcover account book contains handwritten records of the Harvard College Lottery in the hand of College Treasurer Ebenezer Storer. The volume begins with a transcription of the Massachusetts General Court June 13, 1794 legislation sanctioning the lottery, and a note that the managers of the lottery gave security bonds to the Corporation. The bulk of the volume records the activities of the four classes of the lottery including lists of the individual tickets returned by the managers Benjamin Austin Jr., George R. Minot, Henry Warren, and John Kneeland, and the accounts of prizes drawn and tickets returned. The volume has a table of contents and there is a note pasted onto the third page calculating the sum raised if all tickets had been sold.

Rules and orders relating to a Professor of the Mathematicks, of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, in Harvard College, 18 January 1726

This folder contains a single document describing the "rules and orders" of the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. The document begins by defining the subjects to be taught by the Hollis Professor including natural and experimental philosophy, elements of geometry, and the principles of astronomy and geography. It then outlines the number of public and private lectures to be given to students, how much extra time the professor should spend with students reviewing any difficulties they may encounter understanding class subject matter discussed, and stipulates that the professor's duties shall be restricted solely to his teaching activities and not involve him in any religious activities at the College or oblige him to teach any additional studies other than those specified for the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. Furthermore, the rules establish the professor's salary at £80 per year and allow the professor to receive from students, except those students studying theology under the Hollis Professor of Divinity, an additional fee as determined by the Corporation and Board of Overseers, to supplement his income. Moreover, the rules assert that all professorship candidates selected by the Harvard Corporation must be approved by Thomas Hollis during his lifetime or by his executor after his death. Finally, the rules state that the Hollis professor take an oath to the civil government and declare himself a member of the Protestant reformed religion. This document is signed by Thomas Hollis and four witnesses, John Hollis, Joshua Hollis, Richard Solly, and John Williams.

Harvard Library bookplate collection, 1764-1960

This collection contains samples of bookplate labels that were pasted into books held in the libraries of Harvard University, dating from 1764 to 1960. The collection includes bookplates arranged chronologically and bookplates of the Harvard College Library and departmental libraries arranged alphabetically. The collection also contains correspondence related to bookplates, dating from 1918 to 1921, and a list of printed seals used in Harvard College Library. Some of the bookplates include handwritten inscriptions, while others are blank. There are six 18th century bookplates with inscriptions documenting gifts and bequests made following the 1764 fire that destroyed the bulk of Harvard's Library from Marblehead, Massachusetts, minister John Barnard (1681-1770; Harvard AB 1700); New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth (1696-1770; Harvard AB 1715); Portsmouth, New Hampshire, merchant Thomas Wibird (1706-1765; Harvard AB 1728); and merchant Thomas Lee (died 1787) of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Questiones propositae pro modulo discutiendae Comitiis publicis Harvardini Collegii quod est divin. provid. Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum a Laureae Magistralis candidatis, 1660-1753

The bound volume holds handwritten transcriptions of selected Harvard Commencement Quaestiones copied by Isaac Mansfield (Harvard AB 1742). The manuscript volume includes from the 1708 Quaestiones onward, the notation "N.B." next to questions performed by the candidate during the Commencement exercises; the original printed Quaestiones sheets do not note this information. The volume includes Quaestiones transcriptions for which no original broadsides are known to still exists.

Oratio valedictoria: [Delivered at Harvard Commencement, 1736, before Ew. Belcher &c. With copy on blue paper.]

The notebook contains the original six-page manuscript of the valedictory address composed in Latin by graduate Edward Winslow at the 1736 Harvard Commencement enclosed within 19th century blue notebook paper on which a second handwritten copy of the address is written. The original text includes edits and struck-through words.

Sermons on sacrament days : manuscript, [ca.1650-1685]

13 autograph manuscript sermons (undated), including table of contents.At end are three pages of notes on a sermon by Mr. Mather.

Sermons on fast days : manuscript, 1678-1684

Autograph manuscript sermons in the hand of William Adams, including table of contents. Three other pieces are by later hands: two (both 1695) by Samuel Danforth, and the last (undated) possibly by Eliphalet Adams, son of William Adams.

Manual of navigation : manuscript, [1697?]

Consists of lessons on various computations (ff. 1-4), geometry (5-10), and navigation (11-74), mostly in the form of problems and solutions.

Oratio salutatoria in comitiis academicis habita Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum. Iulii nonarum, 1697

This hardcover modern binding contains a twenty-page manuscript copy of the salutatory address given by Elisha Cooke at the 1697 Harvard College Commencement. The text includes edits and struck-through words. A one-page copy of the first page of the oration signed by Thomas Banister and William Phips is at the end of the volume.

A poem delivered at Harvard College, September 29th, 1789

Eight-page untitled handwritten poem attributed to Harvard student Benjamin Whitwell (Harvard AB 1790). The poem begins “The brow of age is soften’d into smiles” and contains classical and militaristic allusions. An annotation indicates that a set of stanzas beginning, “On thee, our common parent! Guardian! Friend! His mildest warmth, his brightest beams descend….” refers to Harvard President Joseph Willard. The text includes edits and annotations.

An oration upon genius : Commencement address, 1797

Sixteen-page paper notebook containing a handwritten copy of an essay titled "An Oration upon Genius" composed by AM candidate Joseph Perkins for the 1797 Harvard Commencement. The verso of the last page contains the handwritten title: "Oration on Genius first Copy. July 17th Commencement 1797." The essay discusses themes of republicanism and education and begins, "To mark the peculiar operation of liberty on mental exertion and improvement..."

Theses of 1663

Handwritten document written in Latin and dated August 1663 purported to be the Harvard College Commencement Theses of 1663, but considered by John Noble of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts to be a contemporary parody. Noble notes of the 1663 Theses, that "there seems to be no reason to doubt that this is a genuine, original manuscript of the date which it bears," but describes it as a "blaze of literary and scholastic pyrotechnics" that suggests it was created satirically (John Noble, "Harvard Theses of 1663" in the Publications of the Colonial Society, Volume V: Transactions, April 1898, pages 322-339).