Bond of Samuel Shapleigh to Ebenezer Bradish, July 1, 1793

Although it is known that Bradish was a tavern keeper in Cambridge, the circumstances precipitating this bond are unclear. Shapleigh's name has been cut out from the bottom of the document. It was "signed, sealed and delivered" in the presence of John Warland and Raham Richardson. Annotations on the verso indicate payments made in 1795 and 1796.

Reading notes on Fanny Burney's Camilla, or a Picture of Youth, ca. 1796-1800

Shapleigh's notes are written on the verso of a Harvard commencement theses broadside from 1792. Additional commencement theses broadsides from 1792 are available in the Harvard University Commencement theses, quaestiones, and orders of exercises collection (HUC 6642).

The invention of letters annotated by Charles Pinckney Sumner, ca. 1795-1796

Interleaved second-edition copy of Robert Treat Paine's poem "The Invention of Letters" with handwritten excerpts of 18th century poetry copied by Charles Pinckney Sumner. The excerpts appear to be verses alluded to, or emulated, by Paine in the poem. For example, Paine's verse includes "Beneath the shade, which Freedom's oak displays" and Sumner on the opposite page quoted Alexander Pope's poetry, "Beneath the shade a spreading beech displays." The excerpts include poetry by Alexander Pope, James Thompson, Robert Dodsley, William Falconer, William Hayley, Samuel Rogers, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Thomas Gray, and John Denham.