A statement of facts, relative to the late proceedings in Harvard College, Cambridge, published by the students, Boston, April 10, 1807

Written in defense of the students’ actions, this publication sought to clear the students in the eyes of the public. They argued against the stern disciplinary stance of the Corporation, warning that "it is possible to kill the spirt by too rigorous an adherence to the letter of the law." According to the students, the cause of the upheaval was the "black, nauseous and intolerable" food served in Commons. Although they admitted that there were some students who "delight in mischief, anarchy, and confusion," they argued against the whole student body being charged for the crimes. Instead, they held that their offense, "retiring peaceably from the hall," should be punished, as usual, only by the "small fine of fifty or one hundred cents."

Sketch of Report on Commons after said disturbance, [May 13, 1807]

Draft of a report written by a Committee of the Corporation, appointed at the meeting on April 3 "to consider the expediency of making further regulations relative to Commons."

Report of a Committee of the Corporation of Harvard College appointed “to consider the expediency of making further regulations relative to Commons,” May 19, 1807

This report expressed the opinion of the Committee that, despite the students' complaints, Commons should be not changed in any meaningful regard (save for the method of purchasing beef). Among other reasons for explaining the inflexible position of the Corporation, they stated, “alacrity, cheerfulness and docility are the companions of temperance; petulance, disquietude and perverseness are the intractable offspring of indulgence.” In addition, they suggested that students should refrain from sampling delicacies in town to better appreciate the "plain, simple, and wholesome food of the hall."

Letter to Rev. Dr. John Lathrop from John Davis accompanying report relative to commons, June 2, 1807

Accompanies report dated May 19, 1807.

Draft of report of Committee for regulation upon commons, June 12, 1820

On the same page as a partial letter dated May 5, 1820; it is unclear to whom the letter is addressed or who wrote it.

B. Copies of three letters to Moody Noyes, 1800

It is unknown who made these manuscript copies of three letters from John Henry Tudor to Moody Noyes; they are not in Tudor's hand. The letters were written on September 23, 1800; November 7, 1800; and February 20, 1801. Noyes and Tudor were classmates at Harvard College, where both graduated in the class of 1800. The letters were written after they had graduated from Harvard, and in them Tudor recounts travels with his family around New England, including a stay in Saratoga and Ballston Springs, New York; his interest, shared by Moody, in entering into a store or other form of business, although he found "merchants in general [to be] a contemptible set of beings"; the maxims of the Duke de la Rochefoucauld; his hurt feelings at Moody's failure to answer his letters; and his imminent travels to Cuba with his brother, Frederic, made in hopes of restoring his health.

III. Diary, 1799

This diary, which John Henry Tudor titled A Registry of College Adventures, documents his life as a student at Harvard College. The entries describe his daily activities and notable events, including trips to the theater, hunting outings to "shoot Robbins," adventures with other students in local taverns, visits with his family in Boston and at the family estate, Rockwood, and the illumination of Cambridge in honor of George Washington's birthday. Tudor created and recorded a humorous classology, describing his peers at Harvard in a sometimes scathing manner, and also recorded information about those obliged to leave the College, usually following pranks or other unacceptable behavior. He also recounts his own involvement in pranks and other antics, which he believed to be the only antidote to the dullness of college life, and in one entry he describes an evening when he and several friends "disguised [them]selves like Negroes" and wandered into scholars' rooms without detection. Tudor was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club and the Porcellian Club ("the Pig club") while at Harvard and describes club meetings in several entries. There are also more reflective and personal entries, describing Tudor's feelings about his aging grandmother, his brother William's departure for Holland, and his desire for a "wife who shall make [him] happy[,] an affectionate dog [and] a farm & garden."

Charter of 1650, 1650 May 31

Original charter dated May 31, 1650. The charter is engrossed on sheepskin and signed by Thomas Dudley.

"Auri sacra fames!" (manuscript essay), 1798 June 8

Three-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster on wealth, greed, and economy. The essay is titled with a quote from Virgil that can be translated, "The accursed greed for gold." The essay begins, "The passion for wealth is, like every other passion, often carried to an extreme." The document has edits and struck-through words.

"Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores, nec sinit esse seros" (manuscript essay), 1798 December 6

Three-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster on the role of the arts in humanity's progress. The essay is titled with a quote from Ovid that can be translated, "A faithful study of the liberal arts refines the manners and corrects their harshness." The essay begins, "To a philosophic mind it is highly interesting to mark the progress of refinement."

"A competence is vital to content; Much wealth is corpulence, if not disease" (manuscript essay), 1799 March 30

Three-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster with a story about a wealthy young Englishman named Francis who discovers that money is not the source of happiness. The essay is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem, "The Complaint." Buckminster's essay begins, "Francis was the son of a rich English nobleman."

"Conscience is the best casuist" (manuscript essay), 1799 September 10

Three-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster on the subject of conscience told through a story about a young man named Henry who saves a starving woman. The essay begins, "The disquisitions of the metaphysical world upon the origin and nature of conscience are quite unnecessary to a complete comprehension of the significancy of our motto." The essay is titled with a quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile, Or on Education.

"Procrastination is the thief of time" (manuscript essay), 1799 November 26

Four-page handwritten essay in English by Buckminster on the consequences of procrastination. The essay begins, "Moralists of every age & nation, from wise, proverbial Solomon to 'poor Richard' of our own times, have united in recommending industry, as one of the most necessary virtues." The essay is titled with a quote from Edward Young's poem, "The Complaint," and ends with two lines from Horace beginning, "Est modus in rebus ; sunt certi denique fines..."

1733, Catalogus eorum qui in Collegio Harvardino, quod est Cantabrigiæ Nov-Anglorum, ab anno 1642. ad annum 1733. Alicujus gradus laurea donati sunt.

The Triennial Catalogues are chronological and cumulative lists of Harvard graduates published every three years from 1674 to 1875. The Catalogues represent Harvard’s first efforts to comprehensively document its graduates and were considered the official record of degree recipients. A dedicated group of alumni used the Catalogues as a basis for collecting additional biographical information.

A. Greek Testament, 1768

Leather-hardcover volume containing an interleaved and annotated copy of a Greek Testament. The printed text is in Greek, but most of Pearson's notes are in English and discuss or translate the text. The inside front cover is inscribed "E. Pearson 1768." There is no title page or imprint information.