Letter from Stephen Longfellow to Daniel Appleton White, 1799 May 29

Stephen Longfellow wrote this letter in Portland, Maine on May 29, 1799; it was sent to his friend, Daniel Appleton White, in Medford, Massachusetts. In the letter, Longfellow describes the Election Day festivities among the "plebeans" in Portland, which he apparently found both amusing and upsetting. He compares the horses pulling their sleds to Don Quixote's horse, Rocinante. He also writes about mutual friends, including John Henry Tudor and Jabez Kimball, and bemoans the behavior of the current members of Phi Beta Kappa among the Harvard College undergraduates, whom he insists have sunk the society below its former "exalted station."

Letter from Daniel Upton to James Savage, 1799 September 29

Daniel Upton wrote this letter from Machias, Maine on September 29, 1799; it is addressed to James Savage, who was then a freshman at Harvard College. In the letter, Upton advises Savage to study ardently, avoiding the temptation to procrastinate. He thanks Savage for having sent him a copy of "Mr. Lowell's oration" and sends greetings to a Mr. Holbrook and Mr. Jones. He also passes along the fond wishes of those in Machias who know Savage, including John Cooper and his wife, Phineas Bruce and his wife, and Hannah Bruce (Upton's future wife). Upton explains that he is writing the letter in a hurry because he is sending it on board with Captain Merryman, who is about to set sail, presumably for Boston.

Description of a College Chamber (manuscript copy), ca. 1744

This humorous, rhyming poem appears to have been co-authored by Thomas Handcock of Massachusetts and Richard Waterman of Warwick, Rhode Island. The document is also signed by Catharine Waterman. Neither of the authors attended Harvard College, and the circumstances of this poem's creation are not known. The poem suggests that they composed the poem while visiting - uninvited - the room of "honest Bob." The poem describes the contents of this college chamber, including the following items: an oak table with a broken leg; paper, a pen, and sand for writing; books, including "Scotch songs," philosophy, Euclid, a book of prayer, Tillotson, and French romances; pipes and tobacco; mugs; a broken violin; copperplate and mezzotint prints; a cat; clothes; two globes; a pair of bellows; a broom; a chamber pot; a candle in a bottle; tea; cups and saucers; a letter to Chloe, to whom the room's inhabitant apparently owed money; a powder horn; a fishing net; a rusty gun; a battledore; a shuttlecock; a cannister; a pair of shoes; and a coffee mill. The poem references events related to the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748); British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon's siege of Portobello (in present-day Panama) in 1739; the "Rushian War" (perhaps the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743); and the War of Jenkins' Ear (the cat in the college chamber, like British Captain Robert Jenkins, has lost an ear).

Letter from David Phips to Colonel Jonathan Snelling regarding escort of Governor Hutchinson to Harvard Commencement, 1773 July 12

David Phips wrote this letter to Colonel Jonathan Snelling from Cambridge on July 12, 1773, to inform him that Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson had requested the accompaniment of guards during his travels from Milton to Cambridge on July 21, 1773, to attend the Harvard College Commencement exercises. In the letter, Phips informs Snelling that he has issued warrants to the guards, instructing them to congregate at the Sign of the Grey Hound in Roxbury, Massachusetts at eight o'clock on the morning of the 21st. He explains that twelve other men will march, under the command of Sub-Brigadier Sumner, to the Governor's home in Milton to escort him to Roxbury, where the larger party will assemble. These heightened security measures were certainly prompted by political unrest, although this is not stated explicitly in the letter. Phips concludes by saying: "I shall order a dinner for us at Bradish's, where I hope to have the pleasure to dine with you."

Index of Harvard graduates in the classes of 1642-1772, (manuscript notebook), ca. 1772-1791

Notebook containing an alphabetical index of Harvard graduates from 1642 to 1772. The author is unidentified, but the handwriting appears to be that of Harvard President Samuel Langdon (president from 1774 - 1780). The names are arranged alphabetically by surname. Each entry includes the graduate's name, additional degrees (Master, STD, MD, etc.), the year of graduation, and an asterisk if the individual was deceased. The asterisks are included for some graduates who died in 1791, indicating the work was created and updated between 1772 and 1791.

Notebook of Obadiah Ayer, 1708-1716

The leather-bound notebook contains academic texts copied by Obadiah Ayer while he was a student at Harvard, and after his graduation in 1710. There is a general index to the included texts at the end of the volume.

Compendium logicæ secundum principia D. Renati Descarte catechisticè propositum : [1693]

Small leather hardcover volume containing a manuscript copy of William Brattle’s abstract of René Descartes’ "Compendium Logicae" copied in Latin, likely by Thomas Phipps in 1693. A crossed out inscription on the inside back cover appears to read “Thomas Phips 1693” likely referring to Thomas Phipps, a member of the Harvard Class of 1695.

Collection of humorous verses and sketches relating to Harvard College, 1769

Manuscript volume in various hands containing three general sections: satirical poems about Harvard tutors, a section of "last words & dying" speeches of Harvard tutors, and a copy of the Book of Harvard."

A catechism geographical, historicall and chronologicall

Notebook of unlined pages holding a handwritten copy of Tutor Flynt's "Catechism" copied by Harvard student Hull Abbot (1702-1774, Harvard AB 1720). The volume lists questions and accompanying answers on various academic subjects.

A catechism geographicall, historical and chronologicall 1719

Notebook of unlined pages with paper marbled cover holding a handwritten copy of Tutor Flynt's "Catechism" likely copied by Harvard student John Wolcott in 1719. The volume lists questions and accompanying answers on various academic subjects. On the last page, the inscription "John Wolcott [the name is crossed over] his geography, 1719" indicates Wolcott (1702-1747), a member of the Harvard class of 1721, copied the book.

Diary and commonplace book of Peres Fobes, 1759-1760

The diary and commonplace book of Perez Fobes is written on unlined pages in a notebook with a sewn binding at the top of the pages; only the edge of the original leather softcover remain. The volume holds handwritten entries added irregularly from August 23, 1759 until December 1760 while Fobes was a student at Harvard College. The topics range from the irreverent, to the mundane, to the theological and scientific. The notebook serves to chronicle both his daily activities, such as books he read, lectures he attended, and travel, as well as a place to note humorous sayings, transcribe book passages, or ponder religious ideas such as original sin. In the volume, Fobes devotes considerable space to the subject of astronomy, and drew a picture of the "The Solar System Serundum Coper[nici] with the Or[bit] of 5 Remarkable Comets." At the back of the book, on unattached pages is a short personal dictionary for the letters A-K kept by Fobes.

Questiones propositae pro modulo discutiendae Comitiis publicis Harvardini Collegii quod est divin. provid. Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum a Laureae Magistralis candidatis, 1660-1753

The bound volume holds handwritten transcriptions of selected Harvard Commencement Quaestiones copied by Isaac Mansfield (Harvard AB 1742). The manuscript volume includes from the 1708 Quaestiones onward, the notation "N.B." next to questions performed by the candidate during the Commencement exercises; the original printed Quaestiones sheets do not note this information. The volume includes Quaestiones transcriptions for which no original broadsides are known to still exists.

Theses, in Comitiis publicis Harvardini Collegii quod est Cantabrigiae Nov-Anglorum, defensae & pro viribus propugnatae a Juvenibus in Artibus initiatis, [1660-1753]

The bound volume holds handwritten transcriptions of selected Harvard Commencement Theses copied by Isaac Mansfield (Harvard AB 1742). The manuscript volume holds only the Theses chosen for public disputation. The volume includes Theses transcriptions for which no original broadsides are known to still exists.

Clerk's Book, A.D. 1742

Handwritten volume containing the Articles, weekly orations, and clerk's journal for the Harvard Latin Society recorded by the club's clerk, Jonathan Mayhew (Harvard AB 1744). The Articles define the Society's mission as to "improve ourselves in the knowledge of the Latin Tongue." The ten articles are signed to by ten members of the classes of 1743 and 1744. The journal which records the weekly meetings from April 14, 1742 through June 17, 1742 includes a transcription of the weekly oration in Latin; the first two entries are also translated into English. On the last page of the book, the "clerk's journal" provides a summary of each meeting with the date, the moderator, and the orators.

Diary of Henry Flynt, 1723-1747

This diary, effectively a commonplace book, documents Flynt's daily activities and personal reflections from 1723 to 1747. Many entries concern his dealings with family members, business associates, acquaintances, ministers, and political officials. The diary includes a list of books Flynt loaned to others from 1723 to 1743 and detailed financial entries from 1724 to 1747. These entries provide information about the costs of goods and services, as well as Flynt's consumption habits; they detail where he traveled, what he ate and drank (including, apparently, many pounds of almonds), what he read, and many other aspects of daily life. The diary also contains entries related to Flynt's land holdings and other investments, as well as copies of meeting minutes from several sessions of the Harvard Board of Overseers.