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Manuscripts
A manuscript commonplace book, with text written in several different hands. The volume is written mostly in English but also contains French and German; though no country of origin is identified, it appears to be mainly British in subject. The text includes seven pages of index in the beginning of the volume; there are also rough drawings in pencil and pen, as well more finely executed pen and ink illustrations. The text covers an extraordinary range of subjects, including technical inventions and developments, animal husbandry, recipes, political comment, sports, current events, travel, medicinal cures, economics, wine, and many other topics. The volume is bound in late 18th century three-quarter calf gilt, red edges, with some wear to the binding.
mssHM 83388
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Manuscripts
An apparently unpublished treatise on gold refining. The unknown author describes recipes for different methods of refining and assaying, giving practical advice as to what type of vessels and what type of ovens to use. He seems to have been a master of a mint, as he appends two long lists, one of silver, the other of gold coins issued from various Italian, French, Hungarian, German and English mints, and all current in Italy in 1526. He lists the alloys and the correct weights of more than 100 different coins. Includes one marginal sketch of a test tube. In Italian.
mssHM 72879
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Manuscripts
Commonplace book that Theodore Barrell put together between 1804 and 1846. The bulk of the manuscript is written in the same hand, most likely Theodore Barrell. Included are copies of letters (1775-1778) addressed to Colburn Barrell; devotional prose and poetry (1780-1781) including those by Dr. George Newbern Barrell; miscellaneous writings of Robert Sandeman; a plan of the Paul Alley Sandemanian church in the Barbican in London; and copies of letters (1780-1783) by Walter Newbern Barrell. The poetry and prose provide an insight into the devotional culture of the Sandemanian churches in New England and in Britain, especially in London and Perthshire, Scotland. The letters cover the events in Boston and Halifax during the American Revolution from a loyalist perspective. Walter Newbern Barrell's correspondence relates news from London, including those of the Gordon riots and their immediate aftermath.
mssHM 83496
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Manuscripts
The diary, which covers two journeys taken by George S. Mathews, was written from notes he took along the way. The first journey is Mathews' trek from Waverly, Iowa, to Portland, Oregon, via the Oregon Trail in 1865, and the second is a voyage from Oregon to New York City via Panama in 1866. There is little personal detail in the overland portion of the diary; Mathews took note of facts such as weather conditions, number of people in the wagon train, campsites, mileage, and locations passed such as Fort Laramie and Fort Dalles. He also mentions several Indian tribes, such as the Winnebago, the Brule, and the Nez Perce, and their contact with the pioneers and the military (he briefly mentions the Battle of Horse Creek, June 1865). The voyage portion of the diary gives great detail regarding the conditions on the voyage and Mathews' experiences in San Francisco and Panama. After the voyage section, are more notes and mileage lists regarding Mathews' overland journey to Oregon. Also included is a cabinet card photograph of George S. Mathews
mssHM 63161-63162
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Manuscripts
Volume includes copies of legal documents, court records, recipes, medical information, accounts and receipts, poems, and clippings.
mssHM 448
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Manuscripts
A verse miscellany, entitled "Poetical Manuscript Commonplace book" on the spine and "English Verses, Time of James and Charles the First" within the volume; it is written in a single neat italic hand, probably written in Oxford, England, approximately 1635, and associated with Christ Church College, Oxford University. The volume contains 108 poems, almost all of which are presented anonymously; there are mentions of race and skin color and more than 60 of the poems concern women, love, or marriage. Some of the poems are attributed to, among others, Thomas Carew, Richard Corbet, Robert Herrick, Ben Jonson, Henry King, Thomas Randolph, and William Strode. The volume has 19th-century foliation and a list of contents in the front. The volume is bound in contemporary calf, sewn on four alum-tawed slips, covers with a single gilt rule border, head of spine has some damage, and the end leaves were replaced in approximately 1830; also, with a catalogue cutting pasted inside front cover and a morocco-backed slipcase.
mssHM 84418