Student notebook of James Varney, 1721-1725

The bound notebook contains academic texts copied by Harvard student James Varney in the early 1720s. The texts are written tête-bêche (where both ends of the volume are used to begin writing). The front paste-down endpaper reads 'James Varney his book 1724,' and the rear paste-down endpaper reads 'Joseph Lovett' [AB 1728].

Student essay composed by Curtis Guild, 1795

Two-page handwritten essay written in English by Curtis Guild when he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The essay is titled with a quote in Latin from Virgil, "Omnis in Ascanio cari stat cura parentis," that translates as, “All the fond Parent’s Care centers in Ascanio.” The essay begins, “The machinery of man is wonderful…” and discusses parental affection. The essay is signed “C Guild” and dated May 7, 1795.

Student essay composed by Edmund Toppan, 1795

Four-page handwritten student essay composed in English by Edmund Toppan as a Harvard undergraduate. The verso of the last page is inscribed "Toppan June 22'd 1795." The essay is titled with a quote from Horace: "Qui non moderabitur irae, Infectum volet esse, dolor quod suaserit et mens." The essay discusses the destructive force of uncontrolled passion and begins, "Last evening, having a very disagreeable head-ache, I early retired to bed."

Student essay composed by Thomas Mason, 1796

Three-page folio-sized handwritten student essay composed by Thomas Mason as a Harvard undergraduate. The verso of the last page is inscribed "Mason February 1796." A quotation from Edward Young appears at the top of the first page: "Heaven gives us friends to bless the present science; / Resumes them, to prepare us for the rest." The essay discusses friendship and the death of friends, and begins, "The author of our nature has so constituted it, that pleasure is unknown without the intervention of pain."

Student poem composed by Jacob Abbot Cummings, 1799 September 16

Handwritten poem composed by Jacob Abbot Cummings when he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The rhyming poem celebrates morning (as a metaphor for life) and describes the farmer, industrious milk maid, and market man. It begins, “Loud speaks the clarion of approaching day..." The poem is labeled "16 September 1799 Cummings" and is headed with a quote from John Milton's Paradise Lost: "Sweet in the breath of morn, her rising sweet, with song of earliest bird."

Student compositions of Washington Allston, 1799

Handwritten essay about procrastination and a poem celebrating spring composed by Washington Allston while he was an undergraduate at Harvard. The essay uses a story about a young Italian named Bernardo to discuss the consequences of procrastination. The essay is labeled “Allston Novem. ’99" and is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem "The Complaint," “Procrastination is Theif [sic] of time.” Allston’s poem celebrates spring and incorporates Phillida and Corydon, two characters from Nicholas Breton’s poem “Phillida and Cordion.” The poem is titled with the verses, “Chief, lovely spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes, / The smiling God is seen” from James Thompson's poem “Spring.” The poem is labeled "Allston July 10, 1799."

Grammatica graeca, 1763

Bound volume containing a handwritten Greek grammar compiled by Joseph Drury beginning in 1763. The last sixteen pages contain a historical poem beginning, “Mason might once assert a Poets Claim. / But he must needs write.” The poem contains references to the “Great Patriot P—,“ the Roman conquest of Gall, Caeser, Versailles, and includes the verses, “How the King doth all his Cooks excel / Besides he longs to kiss his P / Saving your presence Louis keeps a whore.”

Notebook concerning mathematical equations : manuscript, 1769-1774

Notes on measuring height and distance, trigonometry, spherical projection, and other mathematical equations. Probably William Winthrop (1753-1825; Harvard AB 1770).

Essays : manuscript, [17--]

Essays on the dispersion of mankind, the Council of Trent, the invention of writing, and other topics.

Documents: concerning North American Atlantic coastal areas : manuscript, [17--]

Acts, reports, petitions, court opinions, and other documents, spanning 1680-1725, concerning Antigua, Barbados, the Carolinas, St. Christopher [Saint Kitts], Jamaica, New York, Virginia, and other areas on the Atlantic coast.

Voyage et campagnes au Canada / par M. le chevalier de D. L. P. : manuscript, 1757-1760

Describes his voyage to Canada from Brest, and his observations of military operations and Indians while in Louisbourg, Québec, and Fort Carillon.

Thaddeus Mason Harris' working documents regarding subject-based library catalog, ca. 1790

Thaddeus Mason Harris, who served as interim librarian of the Harvard College Library in 1787 and as its librarian from 1791 through 1793, is believed to have created these notes while helping compile the library's first printed subject-based catalog. The catalog, Catalogus Bibliothecae Harvardianae Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum, was published in 1790 and represented a significant change in approach to the cataloging of the library's collections, which had formerly been cataloged alphabetically. These documents, many of them on small scraps of paper, contain the titles and bibliographic information of books on a range of topics, from "Anatomici" to "Rhetorica."

Sermons : manuscript, 1788-1791

Nine sermons concerning Revelations 7, Hebrews 7, Psalms 174, Matthew 16, and other chapters, delivered chiefly at Hampton, New Hampshire. Includes an epitaph in memory of Thayer.

Orderly book : manuscript, 1775-1776

Orderly book kept by Fogg, the Adjutant for Colonel Enoch Poor's 2d New Hampshire Regiment on Winter Hill, during the siege of Boston, Aug. 23, 1775-Jan. 6, 1776.

Septenary : manuscript, 1737-1745, 1755

Diary dated 1737 Sept. 19-1745 Aug. 19, chiefly concerns Robbins' personal religious faith. Also includes notes for a sermon on the death of Maj. Isaac Foot, who died in the French and Indian War.