Commonplace book of Hector Orr, 1789-1804

Hector Orr began recording entries in this commonplace book during his first year as a student at Harvard and continued writing in the volume sporadically until 1804. The entries written while he was a student, from 1789 to 1792, include themes written on the following topics: Time, Discontent, Patriotism, Virtue, Conscience, Patience, Avarice, Compassion, Mortality, Self-knowledge, Benevolence, Morning, Anger, Profanity, Bribery, Autumn and Winter, Hermitage, Conscience and Anticipation. He also wrote detailed entries about the forensic disputations in which he and his classmates participated, explaining both the affirmative and negative positions. One of these disputations involved discussion of the Stamp Act, which was then quite recent history. Orr's entries about the disputations list the names of students involved and specify their position in the argument.

Notes of cases before colonial New Jersey courts, 1735-1755

Contains notes of cases before several New Jersey courts especially the New Jersey Supreme Court. Possibly compiled by Coxe.

Short nomenclator or vocabular in English and Hebrew: composed alphabetically for the use and benefit of my pupils in particular and for the advantage of those who are desirous to obtain the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue in general, which may be that great help to understand not only ye sacred oracles in their original, but even any Jewish author (so far as concern owns) as also it may give great insight in ye tongue to those, as to compose it, a work altogether new, [ca. 1735]

Headed on the first page with the words "Nomenclatura hebraica," this handwritten volume is a vocabulary with the Hebrew word in the left column, and the English translation on the right. While the book is arranged in sections by letter, individual entries do not appear in strict alphabetical order. The small vocabulary varies greatly and includes entries like enigma, excommunication, and martyr, as well as cucumber and maggot. There are translations of the astrological signs at the end of the volume. Poem written at the bottom of the last page in different hand: "Women when good the best of saints/ that bright seraphick lovely/ she, who nothing of an angel/ wants but truth & immortality./ Verse 2: Who silken limbs & charming/ face. Keeps nature warm."

Student notebook of Marston Cabot, ca. 1720-1735

This leather-bound volume contains excerpts copied by Marston Cabot from books he read while he was a student at Harvard in 1723. The volume includes extracts from Charles Morton's 1687 Compendium Physicae (titled "of Phisicks" by Cabot), Dr. Adriani Heereboord (Adrianus Heereboord), Philosophia Naturalis and Johanne-Henrico Alstedio’s (John Henry Alsted) geometry text Compendium Geometria. The excerpts from Compendium Geometria include both figures and text, primarily in Latin with some Greek. The volume also includes “Theses quaedam extractae potissimum ex Enchiridio Metaphysico Domini Johannis Clerici" a précis of Jean Le Clerc's Ontologia et Pneumatologia made by Jonathan Remington, a Harvard Tutor from 1703 to 1711, to serve in place of printed textbooks. The names Jonathan Jackson and Edward Jackson are written on the inside cover, suggesting the book may have been handed down to Edward Jackson (Class of 1726) and his son Jonathan Jackson (Class of 1761). The text of the volume is in Marston Cabot's hand.