An account of my quarter bills, charges &c from July 11th 1743 to July 13th 1748 at Harvard College

Handwritten account book kept while Storer was a student at Harvard College. The well-organized volume is arranged by expense type and then date and was updated periodically, usually quarterly. The information offers a glimpse at the expenses of a Harvard student and provides information about the larger community that supported student life. The precise entries indicate the lifelong habits of Storer as a careful and methodical financial manager that would prove so valuable when he served as Harvard's treasurer more than thirty years later. Storer documents accounts with the steward, butler, sweeper, glazier, barber, and lists these individuals by name. The volume also includes notes on expenses for boarding, transportation, wood, and pocket expenses. While most entries do not list specific purchases, Storer provides details on the cost of a Harvard Commencement in 1747 (including the cost of a diploma, money to the President, hiring a house, a boat, a woman, and "2 Negroes"), and a specific accounting of the different food purchased for the event; Storer also lists expenses for an 1748 "supper for the graduates."

Alphabetical catalog of Harvard College graduates through 1767, 1767

This hard-bound manuscript catalog alphabetically lists the men who graduated from Harvard College between 1642 and 1767. It is believed to be the first such list compiled. Entries contain each graduate's surname (in English), given name (in Latin), year of graduation, and occasional additional information. Francis Foxcroft (A.B. 1712) compiled the catalog. Entries for those who graduated between 1764 and 1767 have been added at the end of each alphabetical section.

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.

Latin exercise book of James Baker, 1759-1760

Small notebook kept by James Baker in the late 1750s; the dates 1755, 1756, and 1758 were written in the book. The volume contains Latin theses, Latin translations from the Book of Genesis, and three pages of English text recording an argument about the soul. The notebook has a string binding and pages of different size. The text does not appear to follow a system of organization and includes scribbles and struck-out words.

A poem delivered at Harvard College, September 29th, 1789

Eight-page untitled handwritten poem attributed to Harvard student Benjamin Whitwell (Harvard AB 1790). The poem begins “The brow of age is soften’d into smiles” and contains classical and militaristic allusions. An annotation indicates that a set of stanzas beginning, “On thee, our common parent! Guardian! Friend! His mildest warmth, his brightest beams descend….” refers to Harvard President Joseph Willard. The text includes edits and annotations.

Letters to Ebenezer Hancock from his mother, Mary Perkins, and his stepfather, Daniel Perkins, 1758 June 27 and 1758 November 16

These two letters were written to Ebenezer Hancock while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. His stepfather, Daniel Perkins, wrote on June 27, 1758 and his mother, Mary Perkins, wrote on November 16, 1758. Both letters were sent from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where the Perkins lived. The letters contain general greetings and wishes for Hancock's well being, as well as parental advice regarding his behavior and comportment.

Notebook of James Lovell, 1757-1760

Marbled paper-covered handwritten notebook of James Lovell. The volume contains three texts written in Latin, “Praecellentissime Domine,” dated 1757, an untitled text beginning, “Cogitanti mihi et superiorum revolti…” dated 1759, and Lovell’s funeral oration for Tutor Henry Flynt titled “Oratio funebris” dated 1760. The Latin texts are followed by blank pages and the volume ends with an untitled English text about orators that begins, “Ridiculous certainly is that Practice of some...” The last page of the text includes the marginal notes: “John Winthrop Esqr. Hollisian Professor” and, “For T.H. of Carolina.” There are verses attributed to the London Magazine written on the inside front cover.

Sermon at the annual Dudleian lecture at Harvard College in Cambridge, May 14th, 1760

The hand-sewn notebook contains a 41-page manuscript draft of the Dudleian lecture delivered by Samuel Wigglesworth on May 14, 1760 at Harvard College. The sermon begins with the Biblical text I Cor. 1:21. The copy includes a small number of edits and struck-out words. The covers are no longer with the item.

Diary of Henry Flynt, 1723-1747

This diary, effectively a commonplace book, documents Flynt's daily activities and personal reflections from 1723 to 1747. Many entries concern his dealings with family members, business associates, acquaintances, ministers, and political officials. The diary includes a list of books Flynt loaned to others from 1723 to 1743 and detailed financial entries from 1724 to 1747. These entries provide information about the costs of goods and services, as well as Flynt's consumption habits; they detail where he traveled, what he ate and drank (including, apparently, many pounds of almonds), what he read, and many other aspects of daily life. The diary also contains entries related to Flynt's land holdings and other investments, as well as copies of meeting minutes from several sessions of the Harvard Board of Overseers.

Declaration signed by Harvard students to not speak in the vernacular for one year, 1712 August 23

The declaration, handwritten in Latin and signed by members of the junior and sophomore classes (Harvard Classes of 1714 and 1715), promises that the undersigned will not use the vernacular but instead "whenever, at meals, at banquets,...in our rooms, in all our gatherings, wherever and whenever" will speak in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew through the next May. Additional Latin text appears on both the front and back of the document. The original is accompanied by a typed transcription and two partial handwritten translations. Note at top of original: "Script. Leonardo Dowding, Composit. a Tho. Foxcroft."

Notebook of Tristram Gilman, 1757-1761

The small volume holds the notebook of Tristram Gilman interleaved on unlined pages in a printed engagement calendar. The original leather cover accompanies the notebook, but is no longer attached. The inside covers of the original leather binding are filled with scribbled words and notes. The volume holds a variety of handwritten notes including account information, transcriptions of biblical passages and related observations, travel information, community news, weather, and astronomy. The volumes does not follow a chronological order, and instead seems to have been repurposed at various times.

Letter from James Otis, Jr. to James Otis, Sr., and portrait print of James Otis Jr., 1743 June 17

Letter from Otis in Boston to his father, James Otis Sr. on June 17, 1743. In the short, half-page letter, Otis asks his father for money to pay for expenses relating to Commencement including the printing of theses, shoes, buckles, and any entertainment. He mentions that he will share entertainment expenses with his classmate Lothrop Russell.

" Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, the proper study of mankind is man" : commencement essay, 1793

One-page sheet with handwritten essay titled, "Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, The proper study of mankind is man," composed by graduate Ward Cotton for the July 17, 1793 Harvard University Commencement. The essay begins with the quote "'Man is a being composed of an organized body, and a rational soul.'"

" Banish the self debasing principles, and scorn the disingenuity of readers. Humility has depressed many a genius into a hermit" : commencement essay, 1793

Two-page handwritten essay composed for the July 17, 1793 Harvard University Commencement by an unattributed author. The title is a quote from William Shenstone's essay "On Allowing Merit in Others." The essay begins, "Notwithstanding Philosophers have ever considered the human mind as a simple being..."

Oratio valedictoria: [Delivered at Harvard Commencement, 1736, before Ew. Belcher &c. With copy on blue paper.]

The notebook contains the original six-page manuscript of the valedictory address composed in Latin by graduate Edward Winslow at the 1736 Harvard Commencement enclosed within 19th century blue notebook paper on which a second handwritten copy of the address is written. The original text includes edits and struck-through words.