Rubbing of the gravestone of Harvard librarian Nathaniel Ward made by David S. Ferriero, October 15, 1972

Large rubbing of the gravestone of Nathaniel Ward, librarian of Harvard college for one week in 1768. The rubbing was made by David S. Ferriero, and is signed and dated October 15, 1972 in the lower right corner.

Certificate to John Walton, guardian to Nathaniel Jarvis, 1804 November 22

This brief handwritten document certifies that the guardianship of Richard Nichols of Reading, Massachusetts, was granted to yeoman Thomas Hartshorn of Reading according to the records of the Probate Court in Framingham, Massachusetts. The document is attested by James Winthrop in his capacity as register of probate for Middlesex County.

Quarter bills for Nathaniel Thayer signed by Steward Caleb Gannett, 1787-1789

Four printed quarter bills for Nathaniel Thayer (Harvard AB 1789) with sizing and punishment totals, signed by Steward Caleb Gannett.

[Letter from Nathaniel Robbins to the Corporation of Harvard College], 1780 July 15

Handwritten letter from Nathaniel Robbins regarding Philip Draper.

Letter from Dr. Nathaniel Lardner to Jasper Mauduit listing books donated to Harvard, July 12, 1764, and manuscript copy of the letter

A pencilled note in the hand of John Langdon Sibley reads: "Probably the handwriting of Dr. Lardner." Sibley based his attribution on a letter from Nathaniel Lardner to Edward Wigglesworth, also written July 12, 1764, in the Houghton Library's autograph file during the nineteenth century. Verso of letter contains list, in another hand, of books donated to Harvard by Joseph Jennings.

List of books donated by Nathaniel Lardner, Daniel Neal, and Joseph Jennings, ca. 1766 (2 versions)

The contents of these two lists are very similar but not identical.

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."