Lectures on Hebrew and Oriental Literature, delivered in Harvard College between the years 1765 and 1782, by Stephen Sewall, AM, AAS Hancock Professor, Volume 1 1765-1767

The volume contains handwritten copies of lectures delivered by Sewall to students, an 1780 letter from Antoine Court de Gébelin written in French and glued into the front inside cover, a preface to the set of lectures, an autobiographical sketch of Sewall, and the statutes governing the Hancock Professorship of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages.

"A Catalogue of Books Proposed for the Hancock donation," 1765

This catalog contains suggested purchases to be made with book purchasing funds provided by John Hancock. Verso reads: "At a meeting of the President & Fellows of Harvard College – Voted that the above catalogue prepared by the Committee be accepted [signed] Edward Holyoke Presdt."

Letters to Ebenezer Hancock from his mother, Mary Perkins, and his stepfather, Daniel Perkins, 1758 June 27 and 1758 November 16

These two letters were written to Ebenezer Hancock while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. His stepfather, Daniel Perkins, wrote on June 27, 1758 and his mother, Mary Perkins, wrote on November 16, 1758. Both letters were sent from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where the Perkins lived. The letters contain general greetings and wishes for Hancock's well being, as well as parental advice regarding his behavior and comportment.

Commission of Noah Cooke, Jr., as chaplain in the Continental Army, signed by John Hancock, 1776 January 1

Commission of Noah Cooke, Jr., as chaplain in the Continental Army, signed by John Hancock, 1 January 1776.

Quarter bill book for the Classes of 1757-1773, 1757-1769

Parchment hardcover bound volume containing quarter bill tallies for the Classes of 1757-1773 arranged first by seniority, and later alphabetically, and covering the bill period ending on March 11, 1759 through the period ending December 8, 1769. Billing categories are occasionally added or removed in the volume, including a Hebrew Grammar category in 1764, and one for the Hancock Professor in 1765. After each quarter's tallies, an additional section provides the totals for all students in each of the categories, and deductions for building repairs.

[Admittatur of Ebenezer Storer (Harvard AB 1747)], 1743

Marbled paper-covered notebook with a handwritten copy of the 1734 College laws in English prepared by Harvard undergraduate Ebenezer Storer and signed by President Edward Holyoke, Fellow Henry Flynt, Tutor Belcher Hancock, Fellow Joseph Mayhew, and Tutor Thomas Marsh on September 11, 1743.

[Admittatur of Cotton Tufts (Harvard AB 1749)], 1745

Notebook with a handwritten copy of the 1734 College laws in English prepared by Harvard undergraduate Cotton Tufts and signed by President Edward Holyoke, Tutor Belcher Hancock, Fellow Joseph Mayhew, and Tutor Thomas Marsh on November 8, 1745.

[Admittatur of William Clark (Harvard AB 1759)], 1756

Notebook with a handwritten copy of the 1734 College laws in English prepared by Harvard undergraduate William Clark and signed by President Edward Holyoke, Tutors Belcher Hancock and Thomas Marsh, and William Symmes and William Kneeland on January 3, 1756.

[Admittatur of Benjamin Dolbeare (Harvard AB 1763)], 1760

Notebook with a handwritten copy of the 1734 College laws and additional laws approved by the Corporation between 1756 and 1760 in English prepared by Harvard undergraduate Benjamin Dolbeare and signed by President Edward Holyoke, Tutors Belcher Hancock and Thomas Marsh, and William Kneeland and Josephus Jackson on January 12, 1760.

[Admittatur of Joseph Willard (Harvard AB 1765)], 1762

Notebook with a handwritten copy of the 1734 College laws and the additional laws approved by the Corporation on March 29, 1757 in English prepared by Harvard undergraduate Joseph Willard and signed by President Edward Holyoke, Tutors Belcher Hancock and Thomas Marsh, and William Kneeland and Ebenezer Thayer on May 6, 1762.

Annotated almanac, 1775

Almanac containing one laid-in leaf and interleaved pages with entries in John Winthrop's hand. The interleaved pages include entries include brief, nearly daily notes of social engagements and travel by Winthrop during the year the Winthrops were forced to evacuate Cambridge because of the Revolutionary War. The short entries include notes of the Battle of Concord (April 19), a fire in Boston (May 17), the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17), the choosing of councillors at Concord (June 21), and the notable entries "wth Genl Washington (August 12)" and "All day packg up Apparatus & Library" (June 16). The laid-in leaf contains an account of household purchases made while the Winthrops were living with Nehemiah Abbot Andover from May to June and later in Concord. The laid-in leaf is written on a note beginning "Mr. Winthrop presents his most respectful compliments to the Hon'ble Col. Hancock and to the rest of the Gentlemen Select-men..."

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."

College Book 8, 1778-1803

This volume contains a fair copy of minutes from Corporation meetings held from May 5, 1778 through October 14, 1803. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains entries related to a wide range of topics, including changes in the College laws; lists of Harvard graduates; historical information about the College and its governance; memorials to the Massachusetts General Court about currency concerns, the West Boston Bridge, and other matters; the establishment of medical professorships and selection of professors to fill them; land and property belonging to Harvard; the settlement of accounts with former College Treasurer John Hancock; support of missionaries to several Indian tribes; the establishment of a student dress code; the Charlestown Ferry, and its revenue troubles following the construction of the West Boston Bridge; the purchase of a wooden sloop for transporting students' "fuel" (presumably firewood); the creation and distribution of library catalogs; the commission of a lucernal microscope for the College Apparatus; Oneida Indian Isaac Solegwaston and Harvard's financial support of his studies at the Hamilton Oneida Academy; transcriptions of a letter (October 23, 1789) from the Corporation to President George Washington and of Washington's response; a petition to the General Court for the establishment of a public infirmary to serve the indigent; individuals who were granted permission to instruct Harvard students in the French language outside the established curriculum; and Thomas Welsh's excused absence from his Harvard graduation, granted June 14, 1798, because of his imminent departure for Berlin to serve as Secretary to John Quincy Adams, then Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin.

II. Harvard College Papers, 1st series, Volume 2, 1764-1785, 1793

The second volume of the College Papers contains original documents dating from 1764 to 1785, spanning the tenures of presidents Edward Holyoke, Samuel Locke, Samuel Langdon, acting president Edward Wigglesworth, and Joseph Willard, as well as treasurers Thomas Hubbard, John Hancock, and Ebenezer Storer. It also contains a document from 1793.