Letter from William Croswell to [John Quincy Adams], 1833 July

Four pages of notes and copies of letters including two rough drafts of a July 1833 letter presumably written to the former United States President John Quincy Adams.

Letter from William Croswell to John Quincy Adams, 1833 July 9

Two drafts on one leaf of a letter regarding the depreciation of currency.

Letter from William Croswell to an unidentified recipient, 1833 November

Five drafts of a letter providing a chronology of Croswell's time working on the Harvard Library Catalogue.

Letter from William Croswell to Harrison G. Otis, 1833 November 4

Two drafts of a letter requesting financial assistance.

Note from William H. Jackson to William Croswell, undated

Brief note from Jackson to Croswell requesting the purchase of a work on antinomianism.

Note from William Croswell to an unidentified recipient, undated

Brief note from Croswell requesting a Latin Dictionary for a project.

Letter from William Croswell to the City Council of Boston, 1827 September 4

Drafts of a letter concerning Croswell's June 1827 petition to the City Council.

Memorials to the Massachusetts General Court, 1833-1834

Ten drafts of letters to the Massachusetts General Court written between February 1833 and March 1834.

Subscription for the benefit of Mr. William Croswell, 1811

Two handwritten copies of a request to subscribers for monetary aid to Croswell on the credit of the future sales of his published map.

Manifest of the cargo on board the Brig William, 1791 October

Handwritten manifest listing ship cargo for a voyage of Brig William.

College Book 4, 1686-1750

Regular recording of Corporation meetings began in College Book 4, which includes minutes from July 23, 1686 through September 5, 1750. Its spine title reads "College Book 4 & 5" due to a nineteenth century labeling error. The creation of College Book 4 was precipitated by the English Court of Chancery's October 1684 judgment, which annulled the Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Colony and seemed to render the College Charter of 1650 – and with it the Corporation and Board of Overseers – defunct. In May 1686, Joseph Dudley (Harvard AB 1665) received a commission as the President of the Council of New England, and on July 23, 1686, Dudley and the Council met in Boston to create a provisional College governing board led by Increase Mather as Rector of the College and John Leverett and William Brattle as Tutors. The "Rector and Tutors" mirrored in purpose if not in name the Corporation's "President and Fellows," and the agreements of President Dudley and the Council creating the new governing board comprise the first entry in College Book 4. In June 1692, a new act of incorporation for Harvard College was passed in the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by the Governor. The Charter of 1692 merged the functions of the Board of Overseers and the Corporation into one Corporation consisting of the President, Treasurer, and eight Fellows. As the Corporation created by this 1692 act (and modified in later versions of the Charter) grew unwieldy, its members met less frequently. As a result, the Faculty (known until 1825 as the "Immediate Government") assumed more responsibility in managing the College's daily operations and addressing student discipline. On December 6, 1707 the Massachusetts General Court restored the Charter of 1650, thus reestablishing the Board of Overseers and the Corporation as the governing bodies of Harvard College. The changes in name and composition of the Harvard Corporation between 1686 and 1707 are documented in the proceedings recorded in College Book 4.

Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1811 November 18

Two octavo-sized leaves containing a brief one-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley noting the transmission of a French book for Hannah Crowninshield (1789-1834), an artist and daughter of Bentley's neighbor.