An abridgment of what I extracted while an undergraduate at Harvard College, 1766-1769

The bound volume contains excerpts copied by Benjamin Wadsworth from books he read as a student at Harvard in the late 1760s. The volume includes almost no personal commentary on the readings. The excerpts are arranged by year of study for the academic years 1766-1769, beginning when Wadsworth was a sophomore. Each entry begins with a title indicating the book title and author for the passage, and there is an alphabetical index at the end of the volume. Wadsworth selected “extracts” from both religious and secular texts including several histories of England, American histories (with a focus on Puritans), the Bible, and in his senior year, “the Koran of Mohammed.” He also read several books on the art of speech and the art of preaching. There are few science texts included, though the final five-page entry is titled, “What I thought fit to note down from Mr. Winthrop’s experimental Lectures” and contains notes both on the content of Professor John Winthrop’s lectures as well as the types of experiments being performed in class. Wadsworth’s commonplace book offers a window on the state of higher education in the eighteenth century and offers a firsthand account of academic life at Harvard College.

Greek translations by Benjamin Wadsworth, 1766

Two-page handwritten Greek translations created by Harvard sophomore Benjamin Wadsworth on folio-sized paper. The document contains Greek translations of two letters from J. Garretson's "English exercises for school-boys to translate into Latin," copied by Wadsworth in 1766. The first page contains two sections: "As it is in English. A Letter from one friend to another," containing a copy of Garretson's Epistle IV from "E.C.," and a Greek translation of the letter beginning "Kypie..." The second page contains a Greek translation of Garretson's Epistle III from "B.J," and a note by Wadsworth: "A Letter from one Brother to another. Taken out of Garetson's English Exercise. The 3rd Exercise. or 135st page. There is not room or I would write down the English out of which I translated it. September the 2d A.D. 1766. When I was a sophomore." The document is bordered with hand-drawn double lines.

Lists of books donated by individuals and organizations in Scotland, ca. 1766 (3 manuscript copies)

These lists include books donated by Anthony Ferguson, an Aberdeen merchant; the Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge; William Gray, bookseller; Mr. Hog, merchant; Messrs. Gray and Alston, printers; Mr. Miller, bookseller; John Erskine, who donated his own work, Theological Dissertations; the Reverend Mr. Randal; and the Reverend Walter Scot Baxter. The lists are almost identical, though there are several variations and discrepancies.

Addresses given by Adam Winthrop, 1724-1727

This small notebook with marbled paper covers contains three Latin addresses delivered by Adam Winthrop during Harvard College ceremonies: the valedictory oration on Class Day, 1724, the "Oratio Salutatoria" at the 1724 Commencement, and the "Oratio Gratulatoria" which closed the exercises of the 1727 Commencement. The last page of the volume is signed "Adam Winthrop Jun'r."

Records of the Society for the Promotion of Theological Education at Harvard University, 1788-1853 (inclusive), 1816-1853 (bulk)

Includes minutes and other records, 1816-1829, of the trustees of the Society and other correspondence relating to the founding of the Society; treasurer's reports, 1843-1844, of J.G. Palfrey; lists of beneficiaries, 1824- 1830; and subscription receipts, 1819-1823. Also records regarding subscriptions for a professorship, 1828, an extract from the will of J.D. Williams, and legal matters. For more detailed information about records, see Harvard Archives LOCATION below.

Letter from Thomas Hollis to the Curators of Harvard College, 1762 July 21

Thomas Hollis V (1720-1774), widely known as Thomas Hollis of Lincoln’s Inn, was a very generous donor to Harvard College, particularly its library. This letter, which appears to have accompanied a package, demonstrates that he also donated prints to the College. Hollis wrote: "N.B. the Ludlow, Sydney, Marvell, & Cleopatra are struck on paper made from white & colored silk rags, the produce of premiums of the Society, the noble Society for promoting arts & commerce."

A summary of remarks made by William C. Lane, Librarian of Harvard University, published in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, December 1909

Lane addressed the Massachusetts Historical Society about the recent discovery of foundations walls, likely from Goffe College, made during the Boston Elevated Railway's excavations in Harvard Square for the subway on Massachusetts Avenue.

An oration delivered at the request of the PBK society, at Cambridge. By Thomas W. Hooper, 1790

This small paper notebook contains a sixteen-page handwritten copy of an oration on "amiable and useful virtues" delivered by Phi Beta Kappa member Thomas W. Hooper on September 1, 1790. Title transcribed from the first page of text. Item bound in blue-and-white floral wallpaper covers.

Commonplace book of Hector Orr, 1789-1804

Hector Orr began recording entries in this commonplace book during his first year as a student at Harvard and continued writing in the volume sporadically until 1804. The entries written while he was a student, from 1789 to 1792, include themes written on the following topics: Time, Discontent, Patriotism, Virtue, Conscience, Patience, Avarice, Compassion, Mortality, Self-knowledge, Benevolence, Morning, Anger, Profanity, Bribery, Autumn and Winter, Hermitage, Conscience and Anticipation. He also wrote detailed entries about the forensic disputations in which he and his classmates participated, explaining both the affirmative and negative positions. One of these disputations involved discussion of the Stamp Act, which was then quite recent history. Orr's entries about the disputations list the names of students involved and specify their position in the argument.

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

The pamphlet-sized manuscript includes "The Book of Harvard" signed "Joseph Cummings, scriptis, Janr 7th 1767," an untitled two-page essay beginning, "Wisdom is ye Crown of life" and ending "Draught of Knowledge, let us with a laudable ambition, strive to excel each other in an ardent pursuit of Learning, then shall we raise to ourselves a monument of honest fame, which shall perish only in ye general wreak of nature," and on the last page, "An Accrostick" beginning "Jangling & Discord are thy Souls delight" and spelling out JAMES MITCHEL VARNUM dated July 3, 1767 and signed "The 3d edition revised & improved by Gove & Fogg."