An abridgment of what I extracted while an undergraduate at Harvard College, 1766-1769

The bound volume contains excerpts copied by Benjamin Wadsworth from books he read as a student at Harvard in the late 1760s. The volume includes almost no personal commentary on the readings. The excerpts are arranged by year of study for the academic years 1766-1769, beginning when Wadsworth was a sophomore. Each entry begins with a title indicating the book title and author for the passage, and there is an alphabetical index at the end of the volume. Wadsworth selected “extracts” from both religious and secular texts including several histories of England, American histories (with a focus on Puritans), the Bible, and in his senior year, “the Koran of Mohammed.” He also read several books on the art of speech and the art of preaching. There are few science texts included, though the final five-page entry is titled, “What I thought fit to note down from Mr. Winthrop’s experimental Lectures” and contains notes both on the content of Professor John Winthrop’s lectures as well as the types of experiments being performed in class. Wadsworth’s commonplace book offers a window on the state of higher education in the eighteenth century and offers a firsthand account of academic life at Harvard College.

Commonplace book of John Holyoke, 1662 - May 1663

This unbound commonplace book was kept by John Holyoke during 1662 and 1663. The volume contains chiefly religious quotations and sermon notes (possibly of sermons preached by Holyoke himself), in English, Latin and Greek. Both ends of the volume were used to begin writing: the front page reads “Johannes Holyoke, adjunctu occupatu, May-1663” and the rear page reads “Johannes Holyoke [illegible] 1662.” The texts do not follow a straight tête-bêche model, where one text is upside down in relation to the other; rather, the texts change direction several times within the volume. The volume also includes part of letter sent to Holyoke’s grandfather Pynchon, September 16, 16?? [date illegible], as well as a series of alphabetically arranged quotations.

Commonplace book of John Bullard, 1775-1779

This bound volume contains excerpts copied by Jonathan Bullard from books he read as a student at Harvard in the mid 1770s. Excerpts include an unattributed poem titled "On Friendship," which appeared in the "poetical essays" section of Volume 36 of the London Magazine in 1767; Joseph Butler, The Analogy of Religion, 1736; The Quaker's Grace; a history of England; Newton's laws; Plutarch's Morals; Benjamin Franklin's writings on the Aurora Borealis. The volume also includes several extracts from articles about the death of John Paddock (Class of 1776), who drowned in the Charles in the summer of 1773, sheet music for two songs, "The Rapture," and "A Song" from Henry Harington's "Damon and Chlora," and a transcription of the satirical "Book of Harvard," written in response to the Butter Rebellion of 1766. Interleaved in the middle of the volume is a transcription from an ecclesiastical event moderated by Ebenezer Bridge in Medford, Mass. on November 20, 1779. The variety of texts suggests the commonplace book was not used solely for academic works.

Commonplace book of Benjamin Penhallow, 1721-1724

This leather-bound volume contains excerpts copied by Benjamin Penhallow from books he read while he was a student at Harvard in the 1720s. The volume contains extracts from two texts: Johanis Henrici Alstedii's (John Henry Alsted / Johann Heinrich Alsted) Geometria Domini, and the anonymous text "The Legacy of a dying Father; bequeath'd to his Beloved Children, or Sundry Directions in Order unto a well Regulated Conversation," from 1724 (originally published in 1693-4). The last page of text in the volume contains the hymn "The Sacred Content of Praise" first published in 1734, and added after Penhallow's death.

Student notebook of James Varney, 1721-1725

The bound notebook contains academic texts copied by Harvard student James Varney in the early 1720s. The texts are written tête-bêche (where both ends of the volume are used to begin writing). The front paste-down endpaper reads 'James Varney his book 1724,' and the rear paste-down endpaper reads 'Joseph Lovett' [AB 1728].

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.

An Hebrew grammar, collected chiefly from those of Mr. Israel Lyons, teacher of Hebrew in the University of Cambridge; and the Rev. Richard Grey, D.D. rector of Hinton, in Northamptonshire: To which is subjoined a praxis, taken from the sacred classics, and containing a specimen of the whole Hebrew language: with a sketch of the Hebrew poetry

as retrieved by Bishop Hare ...

Treatise on mathematics and astronomy: written about the year 1680, in Boston

Bound volume containing a late 17th century handwritten mathematical and astronomical text in one hand. The text is separated into mathematical and astronomical sections with rules, instructions for performing calculations, tables, and drawings. The subjects include arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and trigonometry, and segments have titles such as "Subtraction," "A decimal table of English coince," "Logarithes & their use," and "To find the true place of the sun." The text is undated and unattributed but references Briggs, Oughtred, Ramus, and Apollonius. Certain tables are calculated from latitudinal and longitudinal numbers associated with Boston, and many of the examples use dates in the 1670s and 1680. The manuscript pages are mounted onto unruled pages, and some of the manuscript pages are fragments.

Student lectures notes on chemistry and materia medica, and medical recipes, of Lyman Spalding, 1795-1799 (inclusive)

Contains notes taken by Harvard student Lyman Spalding during eleven chemistry lectures delivered by Harvard Professor Aaron Dexter (1750-1829) in the fall of 1795 and recipes prepared and used by Spalding in his medical practice in 1797. The recipes include elixir vitriol, containing liquor, Jamaica pepper, cinnamon, and ginger, and an electuary for a cough, containing oxymel squills (sea onion in honey), licorice, antimonium tartaricum potash (a compound of the chemical element antimony and a potassium-containing salt), and opium. The volume also contains writings about chemistry by Spalding, some of which appear transcribed from published sources, in undated entries, and a diary entry from 1799 regarding an experiment with water.

Student lecture notes on the Theory & Practice of Physic, and patient case histories, of Lyman Spalding, 1795-1799 (inclusive)

Contains notes taken by Harvard student Lyman Spalding from lectures delivered by Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846) in 1795. The notes cover the history of medicine, theories of contemporary physicians like Herman Boerhaave, William Cullen, and John Brown, and topics like fetal growth, digestion, and circulation. The volume also contains six pages of patient case notes from Spalding’s medical practice in Walpole, New Hampshire, in 1799, which detail the patients’ symptoms and course of treatment he pursued. In the case of a young man who complained of pain in his breast following a wrestling match, Spalding bled him and prescribed a cathartic of soap and aloes. Spalding also operated on a man who cut off part of his ankle with an ax.

Student lecture notes on anatomy and surgery, and medical notes, of Lyman Spalding, 1795

Contains notes taken by Harvard student Lyman Spalding (1775-1821) from lectures on anatomy and surgery delivered by Harvard Professor John Warren (1753-1815) in 1795, as well a section entitled “Medical Observations,” which includes entries on “Vernal Debility,” or diseases occurring in the spring, and lung function. It is unclear if these are Spalding’s own writings or transcriptions from a published work. There is also text transcribed from “Elementa Medicinae,” published in 1780 by Scottish physician John Brown.

Algebra, or universal mathematics: revived 1738 with notes and additions : manuscript, [after 1738]

Instructional book in algebra with exercises.

Research and teaching the European Union in Latin America. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Special, December 2012

NOTE: there is an appendix to this document on the Archive at ei.pitt.edu/29784/ From the Introduction. The tasks of research, teaching and public opinion outreach activities on the European Union in the Latin American subcontinent2 are propelled by two principal motivations. In the first place, interest on the EU originates from the historical proximity between Europe and Latin America. There are no other two regions in the world with a deeper mutual affinity than the one existing between Europe and the conglomerate composed by Latin America and the Caribbean. Only the intimate relationship forged by the United States with the Europe continent is perhaps stronger, and even more special with the United Kingdom.