Arguments prepared by Daniel Appleton White for meetings of Phi Beta Kappa, 1796-1797

Three handwritten arguments prepared by Phi Beta Kappa member Daniel Appleton White (1776-1861; Harvard AB 1797) for discussion at meetings of the Alpha chapter at Harvard University in 1796 and 1797. The documents consist of a small paper notebook with a response to the prompt, "Whether the deeper studies, such as metaphysics, mathematics & natural philosophy, are entitled to our chief attention?" dated September 27, 1796, and prepared for debate with classmate Isaac Wellington (died 1797); a one-leaf document with a disputation on, "Whether civilized nations have a right to drive uncivilized nations from the lands they occupy?" dated December 8, 1796; and a small paper notebook containing White’s argument to the prompt, "Would a national university be beneficial for America?" that he debated with John Collins Warren (1778-1856; Harvard AB 1797) during the chapter’s May 16, 1797, meeting.

Records of the Geographical Society, ca. 1796

This small blue-covered paper notebook contains four leaves with the handwritten records of the Geographical Society, an undergraduate organization at Harvard in the late 1790s. The records consist of ten handwritten "Laws of the Geographical Society" and a short list of fines dispensed on October 7th. A list of six student surnames is written on a scrap of paper and attached with pins to the notebook's inside front cover. The surnames likely correspond to six members of the Harvard Class of 1798: John Abbot (1777-1854), Isaac Adams (d. 1807), Francis Brigham (d. November 14, 1796), Humphrey Devereux (1779-1867), Joseph Emerson (1777-1833), and Artemas Sawyer (d. 1826). The notebook is undated but was presumably kept in 1795 or 1796 around the time of Brigham's death on November 14, 1796. While Brigham's surname appears in the list of fines, it is crossed out on the inside front cover.

Letters to George Simpson, 1796, 1806

Two letters to the cashier of the Bank of the United States requesting that funds be transferred to Andrew Bayard in Philadelphia, so that Paterson could receive his salary as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyer's account book, 1796-1829

Contains entries regarding accounts describing a wide variety of legal services and fees performed for individuals and especially for several towns (Dartmouth, Taunton, New Bedford, and Mashpee). These services include probating wills, drawing wills, prosecutions, depositions, warrants, writs, and bankruptcy.

Student mathematical notebook of William Tudor, 1795

Notebook containing the handwritten mathematical exercises of William Tudor, kept in 1795 while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The volume contains rules, definitions, problems, drawings, and tables on geometry, trigonometry, surveying, calculating distances, sailing, and dialing. Some of the exercises are illustrated with hand-drawn diagrams. The Menusration of Heights and Distances section contains color drawings of buildings and trees, and some have been altered with notes in different hands and with humorous additions. For instance, a drawing of a tower was drawn into a figure titled “Egyptian Mummy.” Some of the images are identified: “A rude sketch of the Middlesex canal,” Genl Warren’s monument on Bunker Hill,” “Noddles Island,” “the fields of Elysium,” and the “Roxbury Canal.” The annotations and additional drawings are unattributed.

Letter from William Tudor to his father, William Tudor,

This lengthy letter, written to the elder William Tudor while he was in England, describes Tudor’s plans following his graduation from Harvard and provides updates on the activities of his siblings and the management of the household in Boston and family estate, Rockwood. He also writes about local culture, describing the plans of a Boston theater to put on a play called "Bunker Hill."

Letter from William Winthrop to William Bentley, 1810 November 24

Two octavo-sized leaves with a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from William Winthrop to Bentley responding to a request to return a book, speculating about the identity of Harvard graduate Peter Cutler (Harvard AB 1698), and questioning Bentley about the interests of "F. Moore," likely referring to Francis Moore (1782-1856).

The invention of letters annotated by Charles Pinckney Sumner, ca. 1795-1796

Interleaved second-edition copy of Robert Treat Paine's poem "The Invention of Letters" with handwritten excerpts of 18th century poetry copied by Charles Pinckney Sumner. The excerpts appear to be verses alluded to, or emulated, by Paine in the poem. For example, Paine's verse includes "Beneath the shade, which Freedom's oak displays" and Sumner on the opposite page quoted Alexander Pope's poetry, "Beneath the shade a spreading beech displays." The excerpts include poetry by Alexander Pope, James Thompson, Robert Dodsley, William Falconer, William Hayley, Samuel Rogers, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Thomas Gray, and John Denham.

The Bedford schools and charities of Sir William Harper : history of this celebrated endowment, the Act of Parliament and scheme of rules for its management, and a memoir of Sir William Harper /

Includes index.

Joshua William Caldwell. A memorial volume, containing his biography, writings and addresses,

Foreword.-- Biographical sketch [by H.H. Ingersoll and G.F. Mellen]-- Civil war reminiscences.-- The transcendental movement.-- The South in the revolution.-- Goldsmith.-- Puritan races and Puritan living.-- Changing customs.-- East Tennessee in state history.-- The song of the automobile.-- Last days of Andrew Jackson.-- Unchastity in fiction.-- Thomas Carlyle.-- The South is American.-- Thoreau, the nature-lover.-- Literature and life of a people.-- An epic of the Knoxville bar.-- Calhoun the statesman.-- Tennessee, past and present.-- Athanasius.-- The Tater-bug parson.-- The bar of the South.-- John Bell of Tennessee.-- The chronicle of 1907.-- Notes critical and explanatory.

A memoir of the life of the Right Rev. William Meade, D.D., bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of Virginia.

Mode of access: Internet.

William McKinley papers [microform]

Gifts of George B. Cortelyou, Sr. and Jr., 1935-46; and other gifts, purchases and transfers, 1902-59.

In memoriam. Funereal obsequies on occasion of the death of Rev. William Montague Ferry ...

Mode of access: Internet.

The works of William H. Prescott...

Vols. 5-22: "Fifteen copies of the Montezuma edition of Prescott's works have been printed for presentation." This set no. 345.

William the Silent, prince of Orange, the moderate man of the sixteenth century; the story of his life as told from his own letters, from those of his friends and enemies and from official documents,

Bibliography: v. 2, p. 459-462.