MSS 0097. Diaries, Journals, & Ships' Logs

This volume is a receipt book kept by the Boston, Massachusetts, shipping firm of Thompson and Gridley for the period 1758-1765 and is interspersed with the diary of Robert Capen. The diary was written in 1811 and 1812. The entries document the weather and wind direction as well as occurances in the town of Canton, Massachusetts. There is also a single account for Samuel Capen of Canton to Robert Capen, for the period 1810-1812.

This single volume is a specimen of a case construction binding created by John Franklin ("Frank") Mowery, a bookbinder and former head conservator at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

This twelve volume set of diaries was kept by Indiana tradesman William Bird Cowan between 1839 and 1877. Each volume features brief entries about local events, weather observations, business trips taken to other towns, and household tasks.

This journal of New Jersey resident Sarah Marks Stockton chronicles her travels in Italy and stay in Rome as a member of high society from 1858 to 1860. Stockton’s journal contains extremely detailed autograph entries describing her stay in Italy with her children while her husband John P. Stockton served as the American minister to the Papal States.

This travel diary belonging to American foreign language instructor Clementina Dalcour documents her European travels between 1891 and 1903, including travel in Paris, Antwerp, and Brussels. Some entries, such as those written in Paris, are in French.

The early nineteenth-century notebook of Elizabeth W. Supplee (probably of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) contains handwritten math exercises demonstrating a variety of principles. The exercises include numerical problems, word problems, and other applications. The pages are adorned with elaborately scripted headings, Elizabeth’s name and initials, and simple sketches.

Selected schoolwork in the subject of Language by first- through ninth-grade students from Worcester, Massachusetts. It was likely submitted to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis, Missouri.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resident W. O. George’s nineteenth century manuscript volume comprises approximately fifty pages of handwritten medicinal recipes. These recipes employ chemical (rather than herbal) means for their cures.

This anonymous journal documents a woman's travels through the state of Georgia in November 1851.

This college notebook belonged to Virginia congressman and jurist Richard Parker, judge in the trial of abolitionist John Brown. The book contains lecture notes taken from 1832 to 1833 during a University of Virginia class on law.

These notebooks belonged to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, doctor Samuel Proctor Kerns and contain notes on lectures given by Jacob M. Da Costa at Jefferson Medical College from 1889 to 1891 on diseases of the nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems.

This journal of an early twentieth-century woman contains autograph entries describing eating, drinking, sightseeing, and shopping in New York City and several excursions within the Mid-Atlantic region in the 1930s. The entries are accompanied by numerous black and white photographs of locations visited during her trips.

Nobel Prize-winning chemist Charles J. Pedersen’s “Food Book No. 1” contains thirty-eight pages of gastronomical entries, including lists of food items on hand, comments on recipes, and items in the refrigerator or freezer, all arranged by date.

Nobel Prize-winning chemist Charles J. Pedersen’s “Wine Book” is a seventy-two page volume with fifty-eight pages filled. This log book records the results of wine tasting. There are columns describing 368 bottles of wine, individuals who sampled them, the food with which they were served, and the quality.

The journal of Dr. Isaac S. French contains original poems, essays, and entries describing his daily activities as a medical student at Dartmouth, New Hampshire, and physician from 1854 to 1861. French also described his relationships with several women and the early years of his marriage.

This travel diary documents the trip Illinois-native Rae Lawton made to California as a young woman in 1905. In addition to Lawton's thoughts on religious topics, daily chores and time spent with friends and family, the diary recorded her impressions of several areas in California including Santa Rosa, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

The Henry M. Snyder notes on Americanization consists of two bound volumes of lecture notes taken from a six-week course at the Americanization Institute. The lecture course spanned the dates November 12 - December 21, 1918. These notes are handwritten by Snyder, a teacher from Wilmington, Delaware, from lectures delivered by fourteen guest speakers.

Eighteenth-century English manuscript recipe book owned by Mary Baker, containing approximately 300 cookery and medical recipes.

This notebook belonged to an English papermaking apprentice in the 1890s and contains instructions and recipes for making paper as well as poetry.

This journal documents the return voyage of S. Christian from Liverpool, England, to New York City on the liner Campania after a sightseeing trip to Europe.

This diary was written by an unknown author in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts, in the early 19th century. The two volumes comprising the diary incude lengthy and detailed entries on business transcations, home life, and social events.

A typed transcript of letters written and journal kept by Reverend Joseph Witherspoon Cook during part of his time as a missionary to Cheyenne, Dakota Territory, 1868-1869. The letters describe his journey from Philadelphia to Cheyenne, the process of setting up a mission in the settlement, the inhabitants of Cheyenne, and the living conditions in the area.

These diaries, contained in four volumes, highlight daily life and travel to Wyoming, social activities, and real estate business, primarily in Iowa and Wyoming between 1851 and 1906. Individuals named B. B. David, E. C. David, and William W. Smith produced three of these four volumes. The final compiler of the diaries is unknown.

Short account of activities at a World War I cargo operation located at "Southern Railroad pier No. 4".

These four volumes contain three handwritten variations of the travel narrative of nineteenth-century American sailor George Arthur Gray recorded on his roundtrip voyage from Boston to China between March 1863 and May 1866. The original diary entries were expanded into a full narrative, which Gray apparently hoped to publish. The narrative focuses on Chinese social customs, the Chinese coast, and the details of a sailor's life.