Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of two volumes containing book containing essays and poetry composed by Henry Dickinson, as well as a register of boys and girls who attended the Westtown ("Weston") School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, between 1799 and 1805. The first volume is made up of undated essays and poetry often relate to religious topics, and the second volume is a friendship album of poetry and extracts, copied and addressed to Dickinson from his Weston School classmates between 1805 and 1806.

This collection is made up of two volumes containing book containing essays and poetry composed by Henry Dickinson, as well as a register of boys and girls who attended the Westtown ("Weston") School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, between 1799 and 1805. The first volume is made up of undated essays and poetry often relate to religious topics, and the second volume is a friendship album of poetry and extracts, copied and addressed to Dickinson from his West-Town Boarding School classmates between 1805 and 1806.

Volume 1 contains undated essays and poetry composed by Henry Dickinson, as well as a register of boys and girls who attended the Westtown ("Weston") School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, between 1799 and 1805.

The first section (21 pages), entitled "Henry Dickinson's Piece Book," contains essays, epigrams, and poetic excerpts, often dealing with religious topics. One essay, entitled "Carianers," examines the native people of the Ava Kingdom, in what is now Myanmar (Burma).

The remainder of the book, beginning from the opposite cover, is labeled "Henry Dickinson's Book" and consists of ledgers of female and male students admitted to the Westtown School between 1799 and 1805. This register is divided by gender, and covers approximately 500 female students (31 pages) and 430 male students (23 pages). Each name is accompanied by the individual's student number, age, parents' names, and place of residence. Henry Dickinson is listed as number 329 in the list of male students. Most of the students came from the area around Philadelphia, and several came from Wilmington, Delaware. Near the end, both ledgers have several skipped or incomplete entries.

Volume 2 contains around 20 poems and extracts of poems copied by Henry Dickinson's classmates at Weston/West-Town/Westtown Boarding School between 1805 and 1806. The extracts are predominantly religious in nature, including, for example, excerpt from Edward Young's poetry on hope, Isaac Watts' Excellency of the Bible, Henry Baker's The Universe, and many others. Each copyist is identified after their contribution.

The collection consists of six penmanship exercises composed between 1815 and 1817 by Eirene Smith (aged 13), Nancy Smith (aged 14-16), Mary Smith (aged 17), and Loreney Stone (aged 17), likely students in the same class in Wayland, Massachusetts. The exercises consist of copied poems entitled "The Rose," "To Eliza," "On The Seasons," "To The Lilly," "Epitaph," and "Lines Written in a Winter's Walk."

The collection consists of six penmanship exercises composed between 1815 and 1817 by Eirene Smith (aged 13), Nancy Smith (aged 14-16), Mary Smith (aged 17), and Loreney Stone (aged 17), likely students in the same class in Wayland, Massachusetts. The exercises consist of copied poems entitled "The Rose," "To Eliza," "On The Seasons," "To The Lilly," "Epitaph," and "Lines Written in a Winter's Walk."