[Notes from the minutes of the Board of Overseers, ca. 1799]

Small notebook containing handwritten entries of actions for the years 1718-1799 recorded in Volumes I-IV of the Harvard Board of Overseers formal meeting minutes. The entries note the appointment of Committees of inquiry and votes related to salary increases and allowances.

Interleaved almanac, 1742

The 1742 diary is interleaved in Nathaniel Ames’ An astronomical diary, or, An almanack for the year of our Lord Christ, 1742. The volume holds brief notes about Holyoke’s daily life, written on blank pages bound with the almanac. Each page, representing one month, is divided into three columns with a section for the weather, the direction of the wind, and finally notes on the day and Holyoke’s undeciphered shorthand. The diary begins before Holyoke’s admittance to Harvard and concludes in his freshman year. The earlier months have regular entries, he later stops recording the weather and makes only sporadic entries. Holyoke notes holidays, travel events, interactions with Harvard faculty, and infrequently, community events such as a burial or trial. On the last page, Holyoke provides "An account of our examination the 13 day of July 1742: viz: [Daniel] Foxcroft [Joseph] Green myself and [James] Putnam listing the specific examiners and the texts used for the exam.

Interleaved almanac, 1743

The 1743 diary is interleaved in Nathaniel Ames’ An Astronomical Diary, or, An almanack for the year of our Lord Christ, 1743. The thin paper-covered book holds brief notes about Holyoke’s daily life as an undergraduate, written on blank pages bound with the almanac. The pages of the diary are separated into two columns: the first to display symbols indicating when class recitations occurred, and the second for entries. Entries include information about student life, Harvard events such as Overseers’ meetings and individuals who preached and lectured, trips to Boston and surrounding towns, and occasional references to community deaths and illnesses.

Interleaved almanac, 1744

The 1744 diary is interleaved in Poor Richard's An almanack for the year of Christ 1744. The thin paper-covered book holds brief notes about Holyoke’s daily life as an undergraduate at Harvard, written on blank pages bound with the almanac. The entries focus on Holyoke’s life as a college student with mention of his professors and daily events. The months of May, July, October, November, and December have no entries. The diary records the outbreak of King George's War: "War with France Proclamed [sic]" (June 2), as well as his new hobby of painting.

Interleaved almanac, 1746

The 1746 diary is interleaved in Poor Richard's, An almanack for the year of Christ 1746. The thin paper-covered book holds brief notes about Holyoke’s daily life, written on blank pages bound with the almanac. More consistently filled out, the diary continues information about Holyoke’s senior year at Harvard, and his appointment as a schoolteacher in Lexington, Massachusetts. The September and October entries reference local military movements of King George’s War. The diary includes regular entries on individuals who preached and lectured at Harvard. Holyoke mentions an earthquake in February, and in March he notes that Harvard Professor John Winthrop "had a lecture: Solving ye Aurora Bor[ealis]."

Diary, 1747

The 1747 diary contains brief records (usually one or two a month) written in a small booklet of blank pages. The scattered entries focus on community news including local deaths and murder. The March 23 entry reads, "Will a Mulatto of Benj & Jno Walkers shot a negro of Jno Denny [Jun] he died on the spot." Entries in November recount the Boston Knowles Riot.

Sloop Cyrus account for Charter to West Indies, 1793 July 27

One folded folio-sized leaf containing handwritten financial entries compiled by William Winthrop from February 1793 to July 1793. The entry notes that the sloop made a "voyage to the West Indies" between February and May 1793.

Sloop Cyrus accounts, 1793

One-folio page containing handwritten financial entries compiled by Treasurer Ebenezer Storer from February 1793 to December 1793.

Diary and account book, 1780-1786

Shapleigh explains on the first page that this account book contains "an accurate account of the several articles I've received from my Guardian since the first day of May Anno 1780, continuing from year to year." The book lists material goods and money given to Shapleigh by Samuel Leighton, as well as many goods and services which Shapleigh appears to have purchased independently. Among the items he received were "a pair [of] Silver Knee Buckles," "an outside coat, alias, a Rapper," "two pair worsted stockings," and multiple ferry crossings during travel. Entries detail expenses incurred while traveling, including those "at Mystick for a glass of anisseed" and "at Newell's for 3 glasses of wine;" the costs of attending both Dummer Academy and Harvard; and myriad other goods and services. The volume contains some brief diary entries, lists of "items wanted," and records of books borrowed from and loaned to fellow students.

Account book, 1786-1790

Entries in this volume record the costs of Shapleigh's purchases from the Harvard Buttery, expenses incurred while traveling, sundry goods and services (including dozens of visits to a barber, John Goodwin), payment for room and board in Cambridge, funds received from Samuel Leighton, and many other receipts and expenditures made over the course of several years.

Page of diary, Jan. 1-4, 1800

Contains very brief entries from the first four days of January. Verso contains numerical calculations labeled as "Recital del case from Oct. 1, [17]99."

College Book 1, 1639-1795

This long and narrow leather-bound volume, sometimes referred to as the Long College Book, contains early records of Harvard's two governing boards, the Corporation and the Board of Overseers, as well as a miscellany of entries, made in multiple hands, on assorted topics. Although its proper title is College Book 1, the spine title reads "College Book 1 & 2" due to a nineteenth century labeling error. Proceedings from Corporation and Overseers' meetings were entered unsystematically in this volume, alongside financial statements and other records. The varied purposes of the individual quires which make up this volume, along with the early scarcity of paper, contribute to its disorganized nature. One scholar described it as "jumbled together in a haphazard way now impossible of explanation," although several other scholars have attempted to explain its organization. Some entries are in Latin.

College Book 3, 1636-1779

This volume was begun by Thomas Danforth, most likely around 1687, and contains transcriptions of donation records, property inventories, College laws, Overseers and Corporation minutes, and other official documents dating from 1636 onwards. By copying these documents into one volume, Danforth brought together a chronicle of Harvard's early history. Some of its content duplicates that of College Book 1, and other entries were copied from sources which no longer exist, including College Book 2, which was destroyed by fire in 1764. Danforth, who served as College Treasurer from 1650 to 1668, as Steward from 1668 to 1682, and again as Treasurer from 1682 to 1683, is believed to have created this volume as a precautionary measure during the great upheaval surrounding the 1684 annulment of the Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Colony and consequent dissolution of the Harvard Corporation. Some scholars believe he created College Book 3 in fear that the College's original records, from which it was largely derived and copied, might be destroyed.

College Book 6, 1726-1790

College Book 6 is often referred to as the Hollis book, reflecting its contents. It was created following an April 4, 1726 Corporation vote that "Mr. Treasurer procure a Book, into which shall be transmitted, and a Register kept of, Mr Hollis's Rules, orders, Gifts & Bounties past & to come; together with ye Names & age, & Charecter of his Scholars, ye time of their Entry and Dismission; and also all ye Votes of ye Overseers & Corporation from time to time relating to ye said orders, Bounties & Scholars of the said Mr Hollis." Entries are primarily in Benjamin Wadsworth's hand and record donations from Thomas Hollis and his descendants, with transcriptions of related Corporation minutes. They also provide detailed information about the allocation of Hollis funds and scholarships, and the rules governing the Hollis Professorship of Divinity (established in 1721) and the Hollis Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (established in 1727). The volume also contains inventories of books in the official library of the Hollis Professor of Divinity and two inventories – created in 1779 and in 1790 – of the mathematical and philosophical apparatus purchased with Hollis funds. Many entries related to the purchase of scientific instruments and supplies include the cost in sterling of each item. Also included are entries related to financial accounts and expenditures, as well as copies of letters from Nathaniel Hollis.

College Book 7, 1750-1778

This volume contains a fair copy of minutes from Corporation meetings held from Sept. 17, 1750 through April 23, 1778. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains entries related to a wide range of topics, including the challenges of operating the Charlestown ferry (due to the river freezing, fear of smallpox, and other issues); increases in "pecuniary mulcts" (fines) for breaches of specific College laws; the establishment of the Dudleian lecture; the selection and financial support of missionaries to various Indian tribes; honorary degrees awarded to Benjamin Franklin and George Washington; gifts to the library as it was rebuilt in the wake of the fire of 1764 (many entries provide the title and author of books donated); the management of land and property belonging to Harvard; Treasurers' reports and other financial accounts; changes in the College laws; gifts to the College, ranging from two Egyptian mummies to a solar microscope; the construction of the First Parish Meeting House in Cambridge and the use of adjacent College property by parishoners; rules of endowed professorships; salaries and appointments; closures due to the threat of smallpox; rules governing Commons and the College Library; reports of various Visiting Committees; class schedules, according to subject; student disorders; the establishment of a designated museum space to display "Curiosities"; the effects of the Revolutionary War on Harvard, including repeated requests to the General Court after the war for compensation for damage to College buildings; the cost of various foods and changes in what was served at Commons; and the danger of the chapel's roof, built of too-heavy slate, falling in. Also of interest are minutes from a May 5, 1761 meeting, which note that the General Court voted to pay for Hollis Professor John Winthrop to travel to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus "over the Suns disc."