Longleat House MS 257: a description

From fresh examination of the manuscript, this paper presents a codicological description of Longleat House MS 257, a fifteenth-century codex in vellum that contains Lydgate’s Siege of Thebes, Chaucer’s Knight’s and Clerk’s Tale, and Ipomedon C, among other texts. First, the article discusses the date and place of production of this textual artifact, and after listing the contents of the volume, it examines the manuscript’s material circumstances, provides the collation and compilation, describes the morphology of the hands, and analyzes the decoration.

The role of children in the traditional religious house-blessing rite of Salpassa in north-eastern Spain

Salpassa denotes the blessing of houses, land, and other belongings, carried out during Easter week and Resurrection (Easter) Sunday in the Valencia–Catalonia linguistic region of north-eastern Spain. Although it is now remembered mostly as a consecrating ceremony or a religious rite, recent field research has shown that a playful element, carried out by children through their songs and other activities, was also an important aspect of the traditional Salpassa.

No evolution but revolution: The future of the Dutch terraced house

Dealing with the environmental problems is one of the biggest challenges within the field of architectural technology. Solutions to this problem are mostly exclusively sought in materials and computer technology. However, far more attention should be paid to humans and their role in this problem. This paper presents a small part of our bachelor thesis, which started as an investigation on the Dutch terraced house and through research ended as a study on the human behaviour and motivation. The first part of this paper, the evolution, is focussed on the traditional way of problem solving. The second part, the revolution, is focussed on human behaviour and motivation. These two studies put together lead to our conclusion: The only way to structurally solve our environmental problem is to revolutionize our way of building by involving the human interaction into our solution instead of forcing it out.

House plants / by Robert Van Tress.

no.20(1937)

A Coppe of the Plan of Cambridge New Meeting House which was excepted by the people, 1752

The floor plan details the proposed interior of the New Meeting House of the First Parish in Cambridge to be built near the College, in the present area of Lehman Hall. This land became Harvard property in 1833. The drawing includes space allotted for the pulpit, pews, and center aisle. The document is fragile.

[Estimates from Walton & Moore for the raising and altering of seats in the anatomical room, and for repairing the lower room, northwest corner of the College House], 2 December 1806

The estimate includes projected costs for the materials and labor required for each renovation. The anatomical room needed its circular seats raised and altered. The renovation of the lower room included making new window frames and sashes (including replacing glass), installing new doors, and repairing the floors.

Estimate for fence in front of President's house, [ca. 1800]

Title supplied by cataloger.

Estimates for repairs to Wigglesworth House, undated

Includes estimates for building stairs on the outside of Wigglesworth House, making shutters, constructing a porch over the well, and making general repairs on the inside of the house.

Benjamin Franklin, AM, 1753

This folder contains an unfinished diploma that lacks the signatures of College officers and the Harvard seal.

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."