Letter from Josiah Quincy to Francis Sales, 1835 October 12

Brief one-page handwritten letter to Francis Sales from Harvard President Josiah Quincy that accompanied the diploma for Sales's honorary master's degree.

Letter from Francis Sales, 1848 March 30

Handwritten copy of a brief letter in French presumably to Francois Arago congratulating him on his appointment in the French Provisional Government following the 1848 Revolution and the formation of the French Second Republic. Both Arago and Sales were from the Pyrénées-Orientales region of France.

Letter from Francis Sales to Dominique-Francois Arago, 1849 October 1

Three-and-a-half page handwritten copy of a letter in French from Francis Sales to Francois Arago on two folio-sized leaves. The letter begins with a short sketch of Sales's life and appears to be written to Arago in relation to his role as a political leader in the French Republic.

Letter from James Walker to Francis Sales, 1852 January 30

One-page handwritten letter from James Walker, in his capacity as a member of the Harvard Corporation, responding to Sales's letter of resignation due to health problems.

Autobiographical sketch of Francis Sales, 1853

Three-page handwritten draft of a biographical sketch of Francis Sales from his birth to immediately following his arrival in the United States. There is a penciled note on the last page: "Life of my father written by himself in 1853" presumably written by Mary Catherine Sales.

Copy of the Corporation vote regarding the death of Francis Sales, 1854 February 25

One-page handwritten copy of the Harvard Corporation vote of condolence following the death of Francis Sales.

Letter: to Francis Nicholson, [17--]

Letter, undated, from committee of eight members of the Church of England in Boston, John Barnes, Thomas Greaves, Anthony Blount, John Gibbins, George Cradock, Thomas Selbey and two others, appealing to Nicholson to help support the founding and building of Christ Church.

Account book of Andrew Croswell, 1794-1802

Andrew Croswell kept this account book while an undergraduate at Harvard College. It contains entries from 1794, the year he entered, until his graduation in 1798. There is also one entry on the back cover apparently made in 1802. The entries, divided by school term, are very detailed. Croswell indicates the cost of the following, among many other expenses and purchases: transportation, most often to Hingham and Plymouth; payment for "passing the bridge"; candles; hiring a horse; wood and having it cut; laundry; quills and pencils; paper and ink; razors, haircuts, hair ribbons; a trunk; clothing and cloth for trousers; furniture; tickets to the theater; door locks; a bowl and spoon; "batts and balls" and "other necessaries"; tobacco; toothbrushes; shoe and boot repair; fruit; wine, brandy and rum; cheese; coffee and tea; butter; lemons; sugar; and wafers. There are also entries for college-related costs, including the payment of quarter bills, buttery bills, Hasty Pudding Club dues, and a fee to the President of Harvard College related to Croswell's graduation. There are also entries pertaining to the cost of celebrating various special occasions, including Election Day, Christmas Eve, "Independent Day," and George Washington's birthday.

Account book of Daniel Brigham, 1781-1798 (inclusive)

Account book maintained by Dr. Daniel Brigham (1760-1830) for services provided to approximately 180 patients, treated primarily in Northborough, Westborough, and Marlborough, Massachusetts, and surrounding towns between 1781 and 1798. The ledger details the charges for his visits to patients and medicines he prescribed. Common charges included one shilling, four pence for Brigham to visit and administer an emetic or cathartic to a patient. A visit and bloodletting by Brigham cost one patient two shillings, eight pence. He charged six shillings to amputate a toe, and eight pence to extract a tooth. Includes an index to patient names. The ledger also records household and miscellaneous expenses of Brigham.

Account books of Sylvester Woodbridge, 1792-1826 (inclusive)

Consists of seven account books kept by Dr. Sylvester Woodbridge (1754-1824) from 1792 until his death containing entries that record charges for medical visits and administration of medicines, and sales of sundry and grocery items, as well as occasional personal notes and the names of Woodbridge's apprentices and their participation in his Southampton, Massachusetts, medical practice. Woodbridge's methods of treatment were typical for the era: he most commonly prescribed vomits and purgatives for patients. Volume 6 contains loose pages and letterbooks tucked in related to accounting and to the amount and type of wood Woodbridge was buying for his house, and papers dated after his death.

Doctor Daniel Brigham's Book, 1789-1810 (inclusive)

Ledger maintained by Dr. Daniel Brigham (1760-1837) containing financial accounts for medical patients treated primarily in Northborough, Westborough, and Marlborough, Massachusetts from 1789 to 1837. The ledger details the charges for medical services and the corresponding payments, often made by payment-in-kind. Common charges included a shilling for a visit and administration of cathartics, emetics, or anodynes. Extraction of a tooth cost eight pence, and Brigham charged one woman nine shillings for delivering her son. A number of entries are obscured by pasted-in newspaper articles.

Receipt book of Francis Kittredge, 1780

Contains instructions for preparing and administering medicine for adults and children, and generalized uses for certain ingredients, written by Dr. Francis Kittredge. Preparations include ointment for scurvy, bone ointment, nerve ointments, procedures to soothe a sore mouth and to stop excessive bleeding, and treatment to kill worms. The materials used to prepare bone ointment include fresh butter, hog fat, chamomile, garlic, and night shade, among other ingredients. The recipe for “simple nerve ointment” instructs the preparer to simmer half a pint of neet foot oil, a pint of rum, and one jell of oil of turpentine over a “gentle fire.” Kittredge writes that oil of St. John’s Wort is effective in treating swelling of the legs, for cold and aches, and for burning and scalds, while oil of Elderflower is indicated for belly aches. The manuscript is housed in a binding created by the Harvard Medical School library. Tipped into the binding is one letter from Frederick O. West, M.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, that accompanied his donation of the Kittredge receipt book to the library in 1919. There is also one letter of unknown provenance enclosed with the receipt book, which contains an inventory of the estate of Antipas Brigham, of Grafton, Massachusetts, signed by Worcester County Judge Joseph Wilder on 7 November 1749. It is unclear if this letter has any connection to Frederick O. West or Francis Kittredge.