About
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.
Discover 400 years of intellectual pursuits, discoveries, culture, social life, and work of the Harvard community, on campus and beyond. A national treasure, the Harvard University Archives welcomes students, faculty, and staff and researchers from across the globe.
Works
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848. Letter from John Quincy Adams to his brother, Thomas Boylston Adams, 1786 July 2. HUD 786.3.1, Harvard University Archives.
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Bentley, William, 1759-1819. Papers of William Bentley, 1783-1815: an inventory. Letter from James Winthrop to William Bentley, 1784 June 12. HUG 1203.5 Box 1, Harvard University Archives.
Two folio-sized leaves containing a two-and-a-half-page handwritten letter from Winthrop to Bentley discussing mythology, a reference to the writing of David Hoar, and miscellaneous news.
Coffin, Charles, 1765-1820. Journal of Charles Coffin and David Gurney, 1781-1785. HUD 785.14, Harvard University Archives.
This diary appears to have been kept by two different students, both members of the Harvard College class of 1785. The first two pages contain entries made by a student named David, believed to be David Gurney because the entries relate to the freshman curriculum and Gurney was the only student...
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Dunster, Henry, 1609-1659? Papers of Henry Dunster and the Dunster and Glover families. Letter from Edward Roberts to Henry Dunster, 1655. UAI 15.850 Box 1, Folder 26, Harvard University Archives.
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Dunster, Henry, 1609-1659? Papers of Henry Dunster and the Dunster and Glover families. Letter from Henry Dunster of Balehoult, Lancashire, England, to his son, Henry Dunster, Cambridge, New England, 1640 March 20. UAI 15.850 Box 1, Folder 3, Harvard
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Dunster, Henry, 1609-1659? Papers of Henry Dunster and the Dunster and Glover families. Letter from Thomas Greene to Henry Dunster, 1655 August 20. UAI 15.850 Box 1, Folder 27, Harvard University Archives.
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Dunster, Henry, 1609-1659? Papers of Henry Dunster and the Dunster and Glover families. Letter from William Cutter to Henry Dunster, 1654 May 19. UAI 15.850 Box 1, Folder 19, Harvard University Archives.
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Gannett, Caleb, 1745-1818. Caleb Gannett collection circa 1758-1785. Commonplace book, circa 1770s. HUM 314 Box 1, Folder 2, Harvard University Archives.
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Guild, Benjamin, 1749-1792. Diaries of Benjamin Guild, 1776, 1778. HUG 1439.5, Harvard University Archives.
These diaries of Benjamin Guild document his travels as a Presbyterian pastor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The daily entries describe people Guild met and dined with, the food he ate (including strawberries, currants, watermelon, English cherries, and lobster), the funerals he attended,...
Harvard College Library. Early Harvard College Librarian's papers, 1715-1727. Catalog of books in the chest sent by Thomas Hollis to Boston, 1720 January 1. UAIII 50.27.14 Box 1, Folder 2, Harvard University Archives.
This one-page document contains a list of books sent to Increase Mather (1639-1723; Harvard AB 1656) by Captain Chadder on behalf of English Harvard benefactor Thomas Hollis (1659-1731).