The Lawes and Orders of Harvard Colledge, 1655-1708

The 21-page handwritten copy of the College laws is laid out in two columns, and lacks a cover. In the left-hand column, in an unidentified hand, are the Laws of 1655 in English with additions dated April 9, 1660, August 24, 1663, and December 5, 1667, and an order of the General Court dated Sept. 4, 1656. In the right-hand column, in the hand of President John Leverett, are the Latin Laws of 1642-1646, with an occasional reference to the Latin Laws of 1686 and 1692, and two extracts from the Corporation records about the reading of the Scriptures dated January 26 and May 27, 1708.

College Book 3, 1636-1779

This volume was begun by Thomas Danforth, most likely around 1687, and contains transcriptions of donation records, property inventories, College laws, Overseers and Corporation minutes, and other official documents dating from 1636 onwards. By copying these documents into one volume, Danforth brought together a chronicle of Harvard's early history. Some of its content duplicates that of College Book 1, and other entries were copied from sources which no longer exist, including College Book 2, which was destroyed by fire in 1764. Danforth, who served as College Treasurer from 1650 to 1668, as Steward from 1668 to 1682, and again as Treasurer from 1682 to 1683, is believed to have created this volume as a precautionary measure during the great upheaval surrounding the 1684 annulment of the Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Colony and consequent dissolution of the Harvard Corporation. Some scholars believe he created College Book 3 in fear that the College's original records, from which it was largely derived and copied, might be destroyed.

A catalogue of books [donated by Jasper Mauduit] in the library of Harvard College [at]: Cambridge in New England, 1765

This leatherbound volume lists books donated to the Harvard College Library by Jasper Mauduit, who served as an agent in London on behalf of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. Entries are arranged alphabetically and by format; i.e. the first page lists all folios whose author, title, or keyword begin with "A," the next page lists all quartos beginning with "A," and the following page lists all "octavo &ca" volumes beginning with "A." The volume continues in a similar manner for each letter of the alphabet. Following a devastating fire in 1764 which destroyed most of the books in the Harvard College Library, Mauduit donated books, as well as money for the purchase of books, to the College. He also acted as an agent of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England and Parts Adjacent, using the £300 they donated for the rebuilding of the College library to select and purchase a large number of books. It is not known if the books listed in this catalog are those donated by Mauduit himself, or if they are the donations he purchased on behalf of the Society. The creator of this volume is unknown; although all entries are made in the same hand, the identity of the writer has not been determined. The label attached to the front cover, which refers to the Lime Street address of Mauduit's business in London, suggests that the list might have been prepared by Mauduit himself.

Captain Mulford's list of writings left in his hands for the publick, ca. 1708

List includes "Our originall deed with the Indians and counterbond" and "Governor Lovelace's confirmation...." One of the listed items, "The testimony of Robert Hudson, Benjamin Smith and John Shaw," is included in HU ALP4671.

Notebook of Obadiah Ayer, 1708-1716

The leather-bound notebook contains academic texts copied by Obadiah Ayer while he was a student at Harvard, and after his graduation in 1710. There is a general index to the included texts at the end of the volume.

Questiones propositae pro modulo discutiendae Comitiis publicis Harvardini Collegii quod est divin. provid. Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum a Laureae Magistralis candidatis, 1660-1753

The bound volume holds handwritten transcriptions of selected Harvard Commencement Quaestiones copied by Isaac Mansfield (Harvard AB 1742). The manuscript volume includes from the 1708 Quaestiones onward, the notation "N.B." next to questions performed by the candidate during the Commencement exercises; the original printed Quaestiones sheets do not note this information. The volume includes Quaestiones transcriptions for which no original broadsides are known to still exists.

Theses, in Comitiis publicis Harvardini Collegii quod est Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum, defensae & pro viribus propugnatae a Juvenibus in Artibus initiatis, [1660-1753]

The bound volume holds handwritten transcriptions of selected Harvard Commencement Theses copied by Isaac Mansfield (Harvard AB 1742). The manuscript volume holds only the Theses chosen for public disputation. The volume includes Theses transcriptions for which no original broadsides are known to still exists.

Dominium temporale non fundatur in gratia (Commencement Quaestiones), 1697 July 7

Small paper notebook of John Ballantine with the handwritten Latin quaestiones performed by Ballantine, Eliphalet Adams, Adam Winthrop, and Jabez Fitch as candidates for the Master’s degree during the July 7, 1697 Harvard Commencement ceremony. The Quaestiones begin with Ballantine’s “Dominum temporal non fundatur in gratia,” and follow with “An Jesuitae possint esse boni subditi? Neg Resp. Dom. Winthrop,” "An Ethnicae virtutes sint verae virtutes?" Neg. Resp. Dom. Adams,” and “An detur omnibus an sufficiens ad salutem? Neg. Resp. Dom. Fitch.” The title page bears the inscription: “Jno Ballantine’s Book” and the first page has been torn out.