Rules and orders respecting the Steward, Cook & Butler of Harvard College, [1686]

These regulations are a revision of the original 1650 rules that laid out the duties of the Steward, Butler, and Cook. In these updated regulations, the Rector and Tutor are now responsible for signing off on the Steward's accounts rather than the President and Fellows.

College Book 4, 1686-1750

Regular recording of Corporation meetings began in College Book 4, which includes minutes from July 23, 1686 through September 5, 1750. Its spine title reads "College Book 4 & 5" due to a nineteenth century labeling error. The creation of College Book 4 was precipitated by the English Court of Chancery's October 1684 judgment, which annulled the Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Colony and seemed to render the College Charter of 1650 – and with it the Corporation and Board of Overseers – defunct. In May 1686, Joseph Dudley (Harvard AB 1665) received a commission as the President of the Council of New England, and on July 23, 1686, Dudley and the Council met in Boston to create a provisional College governing board led by Increase Mather as Rector of the College and John Leverett and William Brattle as Tutors. The "Rector and Tutors" mirrored in purpose if not in name the Corporation's "President and Fellows," and the agreements of President Dudley and the Council creating the new governing board comprise the first entry in College Book 4. In June 1692, a new act of incorporation for Harvard College was passed in the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by the Governor. The Charter of 1692 merged the functions of the Board of Overseers and the Corporation into one Corporation consisting of the President, Treasurer, and eight Fellows. As the Corporation created by this 1692 act (and modified in later versions of the Charter) grew unwieldy, its members met less frequently. As a result, the Faculty (known until 1825 as the "Immediate Government") assumed more responsibility in managing the College's daily operations and addressing student discipline. On December 6, 1707 the Massachusetts General Court restored the Charter of 1650, thus reestablishing the Board of Overseers and the Corporation as the governing bodies of Harvard College. The changes in name and composition of the Harvard Corporation between 1686 and 1707 are documented in the proceedings recorded in College Book 4.

Deed of sale of property, Hingham, Massachusetts, 1686

Deed acknowledging Sprague's sale of land in Hingham to Israel Fering. Signed by Sprague, Nathaniel Beale, Sr., and John Parsens, Jr.

Notebook, 1686-1741

The hardcover-bound notebook includes entries created by Aaron Bordman and his nephew Andrew Bordman II. Both men used the notebook for personal and business entries, including accounting records kept in their capacities as Harvard Steward. There is no clear distinction of authorship beyond the knowledge of Aaron's death on January 15, 1702/3. The second half of the volume is written tête-bêche (from the back cover forward), and includes entries by both Bordmans.

Cambridgeshire, England and vicinity, 1610 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Cambridgshire : described with the deuision of the hundreds, the townes situation, with the armes of the colleges of that famous vniuersiti and also the armes of all such princes and noblemen as haue heertofore borne the honorable tytles & dignities of the Earldome of Cambridge, performed by Iohn Speede and are to be solde in popes head alley by John Sudbury and G. Humbell. It was published by J. Sudbury and G. Humbell in 1610. Scale [ca. 1:109,890]. Covers Cambridgeshire and portions of surrounding counties. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the British National Grid coordinate system (British National Grid, Airy Spheroid OSGB (1936) Datum). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, cities and towns, drainage, and more. Relief is shown pictorially. Includes inset of Cambridge with index identifying colleges, churches and other places of interest. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Fatḥ al-ʻazīz li-ahl al-tamyīz : manuscript, [ca. 1686]

Written in one column, 17 lines per page, in black rubricated in red, framed within triple red, golden and black lines.

al- Ḥāshiyah al-jadīdah ʻalá Fatḥ al-ʻazīz li-ahl al-tamyīz : manuscript, 1686

Copy completed in the hand of Jaʻfar Bīk ibn Farrukh Bīk on 18 Dhū al-Qaʻdah 1097 [October 6, 1686] in Akbarabad.

[ Risālah fī masḥ al-aqdām fī al-wuḍūʼ] : manuscript, [ca. 1686]

A treatise on washing and wiping feet in ritual ablution.