MSS 0097. Diaries, Journals, & Ships' Logs

This volume chronicles four voyages made by the Brig Romance between Baltimore, Maryland, and Navassa Island in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The creator, identified as “E.L.L.K.” (possibly Louis King), wrote the entire volume in poetic verse.

This manuscript volume, titled “Index to Remarkable Passages,” comprises recipes for medical conditions, household problems, and agricultural concerns, and was made by an unknown creator in approximately 1803-1804.

This journal was kept by an unknown American travelling in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in 1811-1812. The author provided detailed accounts of British and Irish infrastructure and manufacturing efforts, as well as descriptions of local landmarks, scenery, and customs.

This commonplace volume of verse and quotations was likely created by Rebecca Bailey while at school in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in 1852. While most of the material was copied from popular hymns, poetry, and other literature, Bailey may have written some of the poetry.

This logbook chronicles the voyage of the fishing schooner Arabia from Gloucester, Massachusetts, to the Western Banks of Newfoundland in September 1908.

This volume is the logbook for the American steamship Mary, chronicling her voyages between Alabama and Florida in 1869.

This volume is a farm diary kept by Chauncey P. Holcomb of New Castle County, Delaware, between 1843 and 1850. Holcomb recorded information related to his crops and livestock, as well as references to the weather, his health, and his involvement in agricultural reform.

This collection consists primarily of a memorandum book kept by Philadelphia merchant Michael Bartholomew Mahony between 1879 and 1883. Mahony recorded observations on the weather, local and international news, household activity, financial transactions, and the deaths of friends, family members, and acquaintances. The collection also contains two photographs and a number of loose receipts, newspaper clippings, and other pieces of paper ephemera.

This volume of weaving techniques was created circa 1893 by J. Mercier, who was possibly a student at the École Municipal de Tissage et de Broderie in Lyon, France, where he learned industrial textile design.

This volume, entitled Aurea Dicta (Latin, “Golden Words”), is an illuminated manuscript containing a collection of hymns and poems with illustrations throughout. It was bound by Oldach Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1914.

This manuscript is a calligraphic devotional book containing Latin prayers and hymns corresponding to the Roman Catholic liturgical year. It was created by an unknown person in 1827, perhaps a Cistercian nun at the Doornzele Abbey near Ghent, Belgium.

This manuscript volume is a student thesis or weaving manual prepared by J. Savey, apparently a student of Professeur F. Brocard, for a course at the École de la Salle Commerciale et Industrielle in Lyon, France, in 1914-1915. Savey’s manuscript reflects a mastering of the mechanical aspects of looms and weaving and includes 180 colorful fabric swatches illustrating patterns and finishes.

In this manuscript, entitled “Cours Théoriques de Tissage et de Broderie,” creator Léon Roux described the different methods of weaving and embroidering textiles as well as the patterns one could achieve by employing these techniques. The volume was created in 1902-1903.

John A. (John Andrew) Parke, likely a student in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, kept this penmanship exercise book between 1845 and 1846. Parke used the book to practice his handwriting in German Text.

This volume, entitled “Arbres de l’Amérique,” consists of 157 original pencil drawings (exact copies reduced to one third of the originals) of engraving taken from paintings by P.J. Redouté and Pancrace Bessa done for Francois-Andre Michaux’s North American Sylva, Paris, 1817-1819.

Hannah Borg, a Swedish immigrant to the United States, kept this English and Swedish recipe book from the 1920s to the 1940s.

This manuscript recipe book was created by Augusta W. Pinkus of Long Island, New York, between 1916 and 1923.

These nine volumes are the diary of David B. Kempton of New Bedford, Massachusetts, kept 1868-1874 and 1876-1877. Kempton recorded his observations on the weather, his business dealings, and local social life.

This diary was kept by an Irish Protestant between January 1, 1847 and September 9, 1849, who described the potato famine and other turmoil in Ireland.

This volume contains Frederick D. Chester’s research notes on insects collected between 1890 and 1895 in Delaware.

This volume contains records from the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church of Wilmington, Delaware, from 1885 to 1914.

This volume contains an autobiographical sketch of John C. Brinck’s childhood in upstate New York, mercantile career in New York City, and travels to the Midwest, covering the period between 1811 and the early 1890s.

American student Ethel G. Carothers wrote this diary while she was studying music and German in Dresden, Germany, between March 1895 and January 1897.

This manuscript essay describes the legal history of slavery in England, focusing especially on the precedents for and limitations of the 1772 Somerset vs. Stewart decision.

The first portion of this volume contains the meeting minutes of the National Eclectic Assurance Society of the United States, Finance Committee, from 1868-1873, while the latter portion contains notes kept by medical student John C. McCoy.