Commonplace book, October 29, 1728-January 15, 1735

The small hardcover volume contains excerpts copied by John Winthrop beginning at the age of thirteen as a freshman at Harvard College. Winthrop’s own description of this book as “a book of Extracts from many Authors” is accurate, as it includes neither personal information about Winthrop nor reflections on what he read. With the exception of occasional notations indicating the date he finished reading particular books, the volume consists of passages he copied from a wide range of sources. It begins with an index of the various sections of the book (History, Poetry, Miscellanies, Geography, Divinity, History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Miscellanies, Poetry, Divinity, Philosophy) and ends with an index of the extracts' authors.

Ledger for the Classes of 1732-1743, 1728-1749

The volume, bound in a modern green leather binding, contains accounts for the Classes of 1732-1743. The Steward's accounts with Harvard College are interspersed throughout the volume.

Abstracts of sermons preached at Harvard College, 1728-1729

Small notebook containing notes kept by John Winthrop on sermons he attended between September 1, 1728 and October 19, 1729, while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The volume contains one-to-two page entries on specific sermons and provides the biblical text and related doctrines, questions, and conclusions. The inside back cover contains a handwritten index of the minister who gave the sermon, most often Nathaniel Appleton.

Annotated almanac, 1755

Almanac containing calendar pages with sporadic annotations of measurements and small one-word notes. Winthrop often corrected the almanac's printed chart for the rising and setting of the sun. There are a few handwritten entries including a note in Latin about Winthrop's mother. An unattached sheet of paper folded into the almanac has burial and baptism statistics for Boston and Charleston, and entries about General Braddock's defeat by the French (July 9), a battle between General Johnson and the French and Indians under the Baron de Dieskau (September 8), the execution of two slaves for murdering their master (September 18), and a note that President Holyoke preached the Dudleian lecture (November 25).

Mr. Monis's daggishes, [ca. 1728]

A one-page handwritten estimate of the "number & shape of ye letters wth dauguesh" needed to print the Hebrew Grammar sent by Judah Monis to the Corporation and a list of Hebrew characters with the related number of type needed for the printing. The document is undated but likely written in 1728 following the Harvard Corporation's vote on June 24, 1728 that the Treasurer should collect "so many Hebrew Types & points" needed for a complete set.

Mr. Monis's receipt, 1728 June 19

Slip of paper containing a receipt signed by Judah Monis to Treasurer Edward Hutchinson for "the charge in printing a specimen of the Hebrew Grammar."

Corporation votes about Hebrew, 1725-1728

One-and-a-half page handwritten copy of Corporation meeting minutes for April 14, 1725, May 6, 1728, June 17, 1728, and June 24, 1728, in President Benjamin Wadsworth's hand, related to the production of the Hebrew Grammar.

Mr. Monis's account for printing, 1728

One-page handwritten itemized bill from Judah Monis listing the cost for printing a sample page of the Hebrew Grammar as well as lodging and transportation expenses for May 31-June 1, 1728.

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.

Memoire pour servir de reponse a l'ecrit des reflections mal et sans fondement refléchiés par les res p[èr]es Jesuistes (sic) du College de Quebec remis pars le R[everen]d J. Duparc superieur dud[it] college a un Ecclesiastique du Seminaire de Quebec le 8 avril 1728 : manuscript, [17--]

Reply to Jean-Baptiste Du Parc's Reflexions sur la contestation survenus entre messieurs du chapitre de Quebec concerning church administration in Quebec.