Quarterly account book, 1722-1751

The quarterly accounts are held in one tall folio volume spanning the years 1722-1751. The volume contains three sections: a journal of quarterly accounts tallying money owed to the Butler by students and tutors, followed by a journal of purchases made by the Butler, and finally, written tête-bêche (from the back cover forward), a ledger with weekly calculations and final quarterly sums owed the Butler by students and tutors.

A Book of Accounts beginning Feb. 26 1791, 1791-1799

The marbled-hardcover book contains three sections: a two column debit and credit entry section for students and tutors, a list of "the Bills of the Senior Class calculated" for 1793 and 1794, and at the end of the volume a personal accounting of expenses from February 1797 through January 1799 kept by Shapleigh during the time he was Harvard's Librarian, for services including mending, wood hauling, and "To Miss Morie for cleaning windows & washing sheets," as well as purchases such as books, coffee, and theater tickets.

Acknowledgment of Atkins, Dexter, Hall 1, 1780 March 22

One-page handwritten letter to "the Reverent the President, Professors, and Tutors of Harvard College," signed with the last names of Dudley Atkins, Samuel Dexter, and Joseph Hall, asking the President and Tutors for their pardon.

An Acct of Several things relating to ye Coll: contained in ye Charter Laws &c: w'th references to the Originals (manuscript copy), 1721 October 17

Two folio-sized leaves containing a three-page handwritten report sent by Nicholas Sever and William Welsteed to Judge Samuel Sewall outlining the historical precedence for the Tutors' claims. The body of the text begins, "What we assert in ye first place..."

Manuscript copy of Joseph Mayhew's complaints against Nathan Prince, Oct. 31, 1740 and Nov. 4, 1740

This is a manuscript copy of meeting minutes concerning fellow Tutor Joseph Mayhew's complaints against Nathan Prince. The minutes are written in a small paper-bound volume whose cover bears these inscriptions: "Oct. 31, 1740. Mr. Mayhew's complaint vs. Mr. Prince to the President and Tutors, Recd 14 Sept. 1741 of a Freshman, seal'd up;" "Acco of Mr. Mayhew's complaint of Mr. Prince contained in the Pres't & Tut's Book;" and "To the Honble Mr. Foxcroft, Chairman of the Committee of the Honble & Revd. the Overseers of Harvard College in Cambridge." Among other complaints, Mayhew was upset that Prince had called him "a Rascall & a rascally Fellow." The minutes also indicate that Prince left two meetings of the President and Tutors without permission, in spite of President Holyoke's having entreated him "Won't you stay?"

List of further "instances of crimes and misdemeanors" allegedly committed by Nathan Prince (3 copies), Nov. 26, 1741

These three copies are not identical. One copy, which appears to be the original, is signed by Edward Holyoke, Henry Flynt, Joseph Mayhew, and Thomas Marsh. A note on the verso of one copy indicates that it was intended for delivery to Prince. Among many other things, the President and Tutors accused Prince of having said "in a Town meeting at Cambridge [...] that [Edmund Trowbridge] had not the manners to give him a pair of gloves at his Uncle's funeral."

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.

College Book 10, 1810-1827

College Book 10 consists of multiple paper-bound waste books bound together in one leather hard binding. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains minutes of Corporation meetings held from November 14, 1810 through March 31, 1827. The last page of the volume lists the number of each page on which donations to the College Library are mentioned. Bound with this volume is a printed pamphlet, To the Reverend and Honorable The Corporation of Harvard University, signed by eleven professors and tutors in 1824, along with a manuscript response from the Corporation, entitled Report of a Committee of the President and Fellows of Harvard College on the Memorial of the Resident Instructors Asserting their Chartered Right to be Elected to Vacancies in the Corporation. January 11, 1825.

Records of the Debating Club of Resident Graduates, 1792-1793

This journal contains minutes from meetings held from February 1792 through October 1793. These minutes include the names of participants and the questions and arguments which were debated, including: whether or not French slaves in the West Indies should be emancipated; whether or not reading novels was beneficial; whether sermons were more effective when memorized than when simply read; whether theater contributed to corrupt morals; whether drunkenness or gambling was more detrimental to society; and whether or not French assistance to the colonies in their Revolutionary War provided sufficient cause for the United States to join with France in its own wars. Most of the topics of debate centered on religion, government and education. Several entries also include notes on related topics of discussion, including the reasons for Native American tribes' hostilities against federal authorities, and there are several references to published works which were cited and consulted in the course of debate.

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

The pamphlet-sized manuscript includes "The Book of Harvard" signed "Joseph Cummings, scriptis, Janr 7th 1767," an untitled two-page essay beginning, "Wisdom is ye Crown of life" and ending "Draught of Knowledge, let us with a laudable ambition, strive to excel each other in an ardent pursuit of Learning, then shall we raise to ourselves a monument of honest fame, which shall perish only in ye general wreak of nature," and on the last page, "An Accrostick" beginning "Jangling & Discord are thy Souls delight" and spelling out JAMES MITCHEL VARNUM dated July 3, 1767 and signed "The 3d edition revised & improved by Gove & Fogg."

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

Handwritten copy of the Book of Harvard written on one large sheet of paper and signed Boston, January 10th, 1767.

Settlement of chambers, 1741-1764

The book is comprised of folio-sized pages conserved in a modern soft-cover binding. The volume consists of yearly handwritten lists of dormitory room assignments for the years 1741-1753 and 1761-1764. Students are listed by last name and building names are often abbreviated as "M" for Massachusetts Hall, "S" for Stoughton Hall, and "O" for Old College or Harvard Hall. The organizational pattern varies by list, some are alphabetical, others arranged by building and room number. The lists for 1743, 1748, 1749, 1761-1764 also note students living outside of the College and their locations. The lists for 1761-1764 also include the waiters and monitors for the academic year.

A system of ethicks: Of morall phylosophy in generall & in speciall

This hardcover volume contains manuscript copies of Charles Morton's "A System of Ethicks," "Pneumatics. Or a treatise of the Rev'd Mr. Charles Morton about ye Nature of Spirit," "Appendix of the Souls of Brutes," "Some Theological Questions Answd," and a one-page list "Texts of Scripture to prove if ye head of Christ &c." copied by Harvard student Ebenezer Williams in February 1707/8.

Report of committee for the form of quarter bills, 1778 December 12

This one-and-a-half page handwritten draft of a report on a folio-sized leaf outlines a six-point process for drafting and authorizing student quarter bills. The procedures consolidate the billing areas, detail the Treasurer's responsibilities, and expand the oversight of the President and Tutors. The report, dated December 12, 1778, is signed by President Samuel Langdon. The draft includes two differently worded versions of the sixth proposal, one of which is struck through.

Abstracts of legislation relating to Harvard College governance (manuscript notebook), ca. 1723

Octavo-sized notebook containing handwritten abstracts of Massachusetts General Court legislation between 1650 and August 24, 1723 related to Harvard governance. The volume contains informal notes with extracts and summaries of legislation that established or amended the makeup and power of the Harvard Corporation. The authors of the volume are unidentified, but the notes appear to be in two different hands. The volume was presumably created during the fellowship controversy that erupted in the early 1720s after tutors Henry Flynt, Nicholas Sever, and Thomas Robie presented a memorial to the Board of Overseers calling for the tutors' right of fellowship in the Corporation.