Letter from William Bentley to Edward Wigglesworth, [1780-1781]

This brief undated note from William Bentley (1759-1819; Harvard AB 1777) to Edward Wigglesworth concerns the need for paper book covers.

Quarter bill book for the Classes of 1689-1723 and ledger, 1687-1720

Parchment hardcover bound volume arranged into two parts: Quarter bill book and the Steward's ledger. The Quarter bill book contains quarter bill tallies for the Classes of 1689-1723 arranged by seniority, and covers the bill period ending on October 21, 1687 through the period ending March 11, 1720.

Commonplace book of Nathaniel Freeman, 1786-1787

Nathaniel Freeman made entries in this commonplace book between 1786 and 1787, while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The book includes the notes Freeman took during three of Hollis Professor Samuel Williams' "Course of Experimental Lectures," and cover Williams' lectures on "The Nature & Properties of Matter," "Attraction & Repulsion," and "The Nature, Kind, & Affections [?] of Motion." These notes also include one diagram. The book also includes forensic compositions on the subjects of capital punishment, the probability of "the immortality of the soul," and "whether there be any disinterested benevolence." It also includes a poem Freeman composed for his uncle, Edmund Freeman; an anecdote about Philojocus and Gripus; an essay called "Character"; a draft of a letter to the Harvard Corporation requesting that, in light of the public debt, the Commencement ceremonies be held privately to lower expenses and exhibit the merits of economy; and an "epistle" to his father, requesting money. This epistle begins: "Most honored sire, / Thy son, poor Nat, in humble strains, / Impell'd by want, thy generous bounty claims."

Commonplace book,

This commonplace book is written in tête-bêche, with texts beginning at both the front and back covers rotated 180⁰ from one another.

Memorandum book,

This book is written in tête-bêche, with texts beginning at both the front and back covers rotated 180⁰ from one another.

Memorandum book,

This book is written in tête-bêche, with texts beginning at both the front and back covers rotated 180⁰ from one another.