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Colonial North America at Harvard Library provides access to remarkable and wide-ranging materials digitized as part of an ongoing, multi-year project. When complete, the project will make available to the world approximately 650,000 digitized pages of all known archival and manuscript materials in the Harvard Library that relate to 17th- and 18th-century North America. Each item is connected to countless stories—of lives lived quietly and extravagantly, of encounters peaceful and volatile, and of places near and far – providing an opportunity to travel back in time, to rethink familiar stories, and to discover new ones.
Works
Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815. Benjamin Barton Smith notebook on materia medica circa 1796-1798. B MS b52.1, Countway Library of Medicine.
Volume of notes for lectures by University of Pennsylvania Professor of Materia Medica Benjamin Smith Barton (1766-1815), circa 1796-1798. Includes an introduction and remarks on materia alimentaria (food), followed by lectures on astringents, tonics, emetics, stimulants, and other therapies....
Dix, Elijah, 1747-1809. Formulary of Elijah Dix, 1768. B MS b61, Countway Library of Medicine.
Contains medicinal formulas recorded by Dr. Elijah Dix in 1768 while he studied medicine with Dr. William Greenleaf, a druggist in Boston, Massachusetts. Included are recipes for pills, electuaries, elixirs, ointments, and powders, using ingredients such as camphor, opium, oyxmel (honey and...
Collaboration is restricted.
Hartshorn, John Denison, 1736-1756. John Denison Hartshorn papers, 1754-1786 (inclusive), undated. Hartshorn, John Denison, d. 1756, Poem: On James Gardiner, A.MS.; Boston?, undated. B MS c50 19, Countway Library of Medicine.
Contains a poem by Hartshorn about Silvester Gardiner's son, James.
Hastings, Seth, 1745-1830, and Seth Hastings, Jr., 1780-1861. Commonplace books, medical records, and papers, 1772-1830 (inclusive), undated. Excerpts from Treatise on the Consumption of the Lungs by Edward Barry, undated. H MS c292 14, Countway Library
Contains transcribed entries on apoplexy, asthma, consumption, cancer, epilepsy, leprosy, and vertigo, among other illnesses. Most entries describe symptoms of an illness, and the medicines and medical care to be delivered to the patient.
Heberden, William, 1767-1845. William Heberden papers, 1790-1837 (inclusive). Remarks upon the principles to be observed in the management and care of the sick, undated. H MS c25 Box 01, Folder 07, Countway Library of Medicine.
Undated draft manuscript by William Heberden about the state of medical care and progress in the field of medicine, treatment of various diseases, and physicians' skills.
Holyoke, Edward Augustus, 1728-1829. Manuscript on smallpox inoculation by Edward Augustus Holyoke, undated. B MS Misc., Countway Library of Medicine.
Undated manuscript written by Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829) regarding inoculation. He describes the various methods of inoculation used by physicians, ways to store inoculation matter, and how to treat patients after they are infected with smallpox including administering a cooling...
Jeffries, John, 1745-1819. Small Pocks, 1775-1779 (inclusive). B MS b1.2, Countway Library of Medicine.
Ledger containing accounts of smallpox inoculation by Dr. John Jeffries (1745-1819) at Rainsford Island Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, from June to July 1775; at a West Boston smallpox hospital in July 1775; and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between 1776 and 1779. The accounts include dates,...
Little, David, 1740-1805. Smallpox account from David Little against the town of Newbury, 1794 February 3. B MS Misc., Countway Library of Medicine.
Contains three handwritten copies of an itemized bill to the town of Newbury, Massachusetts, that list the sundry expenses of Dr. David Little (1740-1805) during his attendance at a smallpox hospital between October 1793 and February 1794. The account statements are accompanied by a list of the...
Manuscripts on materia medica, 17th-18th century. 1976-77/m/21, Countway Library of Medicine.
Contains eleven pages of notes on medicine and recipes in multiple hands, primarily from the seventeenth century, and several patient case histories from the eighteenth century. Also includes a typed twentieth century note on the contents of the material.
Collaboration is restricted.
Massachusetts, Court of General Sessions of the Peace (Worcester County). Document permitting the erection of a smallpox hospital in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, 1776 August 16. B MS Misc., Countway Library of Medicine.
Document issued by the Court of General Sessions of the Peace of Worcester County, Massachusetts, dated 16 August 1776, granting permission to Dr. Thaddeus Maccarty (1747-1802) to erect a smallpox hospital in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Biographical Notes Thaddeus Maccarty (1747-1802), B.A.,...