Attempts in penmanship, 1826-1827

This folder contains two drafts of a document describing Croswell's experiments with penmanship.

Letter from William Prescott to Oliver Prescott, 1782 October 19

Two-page handwritten letter from Harvard undergraduate William Prescott to his classmate, Oliver Prescott, that chiefly describes, in florid language, the discipline received by John Rowe (Harvard AB 1783) and others from College officers for disorderly behavior.

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.

Student essay attributed to William Ellery Channing, 1797 June 5

Three-page handwritten essay composed in English and attributed to Harvard undergraduate William Ellery Channing. The verso of the last page is inscribed "Channing 5 June 97." A quotation from Edward Young appears at the top of the first page: "A Competence is vital to content / Much wealth is corpulence, if not disease" and discusses the topic of affluence. The document includes edits and struck-through words.

Letters from William Tudor to Thomas Handasyd Perkins,

Four letters regarding business and trade in South America and progress in Tudor’s mining enterprise. Tudor also comments on the political turmoil in Colombia and Peru and offers opinions on Generals José de la Mar and Simón Bolívar.

Letters from William Tudor to Thomas Handasyd Perkins,

Four letters, with topics including the improving conditions of trade in South America, Tudor’s mining enterprise, and the activities of Simón Bolívar.

Letters from William Tudor to Thomas Handasyd Perkins,

Four letters on topics including politics in the United States, José de la Mar’s installation as president of Peru, and Tudor’s impressions of de la Mar after meeting him several times. Tudor also writes of the movements of the "atrocious conspirator & usurper" Bolívar.

Letters from Thomas ap Catesby Jones to William Tudor,

Two letters in which Jones requests that Tudor relay his regrets to José de la Mar for missing the general’s installation as president of Peru, and mentions he is sending Tudor an ensign to be used "at the Palace."

Letters from Samuel L. Southard to William Tudor,

Four letters regarding topics including the trial of an unnamed seaman and thanking him for his ideas for facilitating relations with South American countries bordering the Pacific.

Letter from Charles Samuel Stewart to William Tudor,

One letter requesting a visit to the Peruvian senate.

Letter from Stephen Higginson to William Tudor,

One letter introducing his son, who was traveling to South America as a ship’s clerk and assistant supercargo.

Letter from Rosa Ramirez de Parizo to William Tudor,

Copy of a letter, certified by Tudor, from Parizo in answer to Tudor’s inquiries relative to Madrid. In Spanish.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1811 September 24

Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley comparing the travel accounts of James Bruce and Henry Salt (1780-1827).

Papers of William Merchant Richardson, 1797-1806

The collection contains a four-page handwritten poem titled "Invention" composed by graduate William Richardson for the 1797 Harvard College Commencement, and an 1806 letter of introduction written by Richardson. The rhyming poem begins, “Long had creations anthem peal been rung…” and contains classical references, and mentions scientists and philosophers including Voltaire, Franklin and Newton. The poem is accompanied by a one-page handwritten letter of introduction for lawyer Benjamin Ames (Harvard AB 1803) written by William M. Richardson to Reverend William Jenks (Harvard AB 1797). The letter is dated November 10, 1806.

Military commission : manuscript, 1756 Feb. 18

Commission appointing Moses Deshon as major of a foot regiment under Col. Joseph Thatcher.