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Physician's travel diary, 1846

44 pages

A young physician wrote most of this diary while a passenger on a voyage from Alexandria, Virginia, to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1846. Content includes humorous accounts of sailing by river and ocean, observations of sailors' superstitions (i.e., Mother Carey's Chickens, also known as Storm Petrels, St. Elmo's fire, etc.), weather and storm patterns, personal health, and patient treatment.

A young physician wrote most of this diary while a passenger on a voyage from Alexandria, Virginia, to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1846. Content includes humorous accounts of sailing by river and ocean, sailors' superstitions (i.e., Mother Carey's Chickens, also known as Storm Petrels, St. Elmo's Fire, etc.), weather and storm patterns, personal health, and patient treatment.

His humor often took the form of comical comparisons and exaggerations or plays on dialect. To entertain himself, he brought several books: Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, by William Blackstone, the Bible, and a pocket Shakespeare. He attached varying levels of reading intensity to each, as well as the applicable situation in which he might read them—Blackstone's Commentaries, for example, was "suitable for a listless, languid frame of mind" (page 6).

He brought with him two Bologna sausages, which he jokingly and emphatically mistook for a woman's bustle in an expression of his apparent hatred for the garment (pages 6-7). When he had to throw the spoiled sausages overboard several days later, he lamented that he couldn't do the same with every bustle in the land (pages 23-24).

The author and several others (the captain, a skipper, and officers from a nearby revenue cutter) briefly disembarked to visit a family's farm in Virginia while waiting for better winds to sail. He included racial epithets that the family used when he quoted their complaints about the labor involved in caring for their farm without enslaved workers (page 22). The skipper revealed that the author was a physician, whereupon he was entreated to care for several members of the family. The mother's eye had been "eaten out by cancer" and the young daughter had a hard lump on her nose that the family felt sure would turn into cancer. The author treated the daughter's nose by excising the lump.

At some point between Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, the author wrote of being "assaulted, battered, and robbed" by bedbugs, which led him to construct a makeshift bed of camp stools to sleep on to avoid being bitten at night (page 11). His rheumatism also caused significant discomfort during the trip, and a self-administered treatment of liniment did little to ease his symptoms (page 34). Although the physician questioned whether or not he would become seasick at some point during the voyage, he narrowly avoided it—he did, however, treat a fellow passenger with a course of "consolation [and] pills" (page 30) after the man became seasick and vomited over the fresh paint sailors were applying to the bulwarks and rigging.

The entries from page 46 onwards were most likely written after the author landed in Boston. He wrote about his plans to attend a series of lectures given by Prof. Agassiz [Louis Agassiz] on animal classification.

Collection

Notes on Canals, [ca. 1826]

1 volume

This volume, compiled in the 1820s, contains an encyclopedia article, extracts and writings, diagrams, tables, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the design and construction of canals.

This volume (450 pages), compiled in the 1820s, contains extensive information on the design and construction of canals. The first few pages include a manuscript subject index. Pages 1-155 consist of a printed encyclopedia article about canals, bound directly into the volume. Other articles and fragments of articles are included, including the entire entry for "Canada."

The remaining pages consist of manuscript extracts, writings, and notes about canals, illustrated with colored diagrams and drawings. The volume includes sections about types of locks; tunnels; drawbridges; excavation; building materials, labor, and costs; water supply; the effects of rain and evaporation on canals; and hydraulics. Sections focus on canals in the United States, England, Wales, and France. The manuscript contains tables of data about the number and length of canals in each country. Specific structures, such as the Ohio & Chesapeake Canal, Union Canal, and Erie Canal are described and used as examples throughout the text. Illustrations include diagrams of locks, tunnels, and canals; a depiction of a method for burrowing out soil using a horse and several workers (p. 370); and a map of France highlighting its canals (p. 424). Notes, newspaper clippings, and additional drawings are laid into the volume.

Collection

Journal of our Trip Through Europe, 1891

1 volume

The Journal of Our Trip Through Europe chronicles the European travels of Americans "Billie" and "Blanche" in the summer and fall of 1891.

The "Journal of our trip through Europe" (147 pages) chronicles the European travels of Americans "Billie" and "Blanche" from July 22, 1891-October 7, 1891.

The diary concerns the travelers' transatlantic voyages on the City of Paris (July 1891) and Friesland (October 1891) and their experiences in London, Paris, Rome, other Italian cities, several German cities, and Brussels. They spent most of their time enthusiastically sightseeing, but were frustrated in Italy when attacked by pickpockets (September 6, 1891). In Paris, they visited the catacombs and witnessed a suicide at the Eiffel Tower (August 24, 1891). The diary records visits to art museums throughout Europe, such as the Louvre and the Vatican Museums, and notes the travelers' impressions of architecture and public sculptures.

Collection

Harvard Student's Notebook, 1884-1895

1 volume

This notebook contains a brief essay on Henry James and contemporary literature, a list of courses taken at Harvard University, and the text of a funeral sermon.

This notebook contains a brief essay on Henry James and contemporary literature, a list of courses taken at Harvard University, and the text of a funeral sermon.

The literary critique, dated July 15, 1884 at Wayne Junction, Philadelphia, focuses on Daisy Miller: An International Episode and includes a list of contemporary works. The author stated his negative opinions and expressed surprise at critics' positive reviews. On December 8, 1895, the author revisited the essay after re-reading the works of James and reported a "less savage" attitude toward the author.

The notebook also contains an annotated, 2-page funeral sermon, a list of Harvard courses and professors, and 3 names and addresses.

Collection

Washington & Jefferson College Student album, 1862-1865

1 volume

The Washington & Jefferson College Student album contains carte-de-visite portraits of Jefferson College students and various other individuals, many of whom are identified. Several of the college students belonged to the fraternity Delta Tau Delta. Many photographs originated in Washington, Pennsylvania; Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Washington & Jefferson College Student album (13cm x 18cm) contains 79 cartes-de-visite, 1 tintype, and 1 lithograph. The original brown leather cover, now detached, has a partially raised geometric design and two metal clasps; a floral design is carved into the sides of the pages. Most items are individual portraits of young men, though a few pictures of women and children are also present, including a group portrait of four women and three men. One carte-de-visite has a decorative border printed directly on the card backing.

Many of the individuals pictured signed their photographs and wrote brief notes; several of the men photographed in Washington and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, mentioned their membership in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. A large number of photographs are attributed to George C. Gillett of Ann Arbor, Michigan; the album contains a portrait of University of Michigan professors Alonzo Benjamin Palmer, Samuel Glasgow Armor, and Corydon L. Ford; and a lithograph of the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. A number of the other portraits taken in Ann Arbor are signed by men who took courses in medicine at the University of Michigan during the 1860s. The volume includes one portrait of a young child that may have been taken postmortem and one carte-de-visite with artificial coloring.

Collection

Detailed account of the Murder of Lilla Hoyle scrapbook, 1887-1888

1 volume

This custom-made volume contains newspaper clippings that follow the investigation of and trials for the murder of Lillian "Lilla" Hoyle of Webster, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1887. The unresolved case involved abortion, accusations of incest, and speculation and sensationalism in press reporting. The elaborately made volume also contains a calligraphic title page and two portrait photographs, one of Lilla Hoyle and the other of her sister Alice Hoyle.

This custom-made volume contains newspaper clippings that follow the investigation of and trials for the murder of Lillian "Lilla" Hoyle of Webster, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1887. The unresolved case involved abortion, accusations of incest, and speculation and sensationalism in press reporting. The unknown compiler carefully mounted each clipping in hand-cut windows on heavier stock paper. They created a calligraphic title page, "Detailed account of the Murder of Lilla Hoyle, Webster Mass", with "Worcester Mass 1887" at the bottom of that page. It also contains two original portrait photographs, one of Lilla Hoyle and the other of her sister Alice Hoyle. Spine title: "THE CASE OF LILLA HOYLE".

Collection

The History of the Reign of George III, 1820-1823

3 volumes

This collection consists of volumes II, III, and IV of The History of the Reign of George III, King of Great Britain, which anonymous author "K. H." composed in Gloucestershire, England, between 1820 and 1823. The treatise covers Great Britain's domestic and international political affairs in depth, including conflicts in North America during the Revolutionary War era and the War of 1812.

This collection consists of volumes II, III, and IV of The History of the Reign of George III, King of Great Britain, which anonymous author "K. H." composed in Gloucestershire, England, between 1820 and 1823. The treatise covers Great Britain's domestic and international political affairs in depth, including conflicts in North America during the American Revolutionary era and the War of 1812. The location of volume I is unknown.

The three volumes, formally titled "The History of the Reign of George III, King of Great Britain (Designed as a Continuation of Mr. Smollet's History)," have 1,323 pages that cover the period between 1770 and the King's death in 1820. Volume IV also contains a 214-page appendix that provides supplemental information for the years 1763-1820. Each chapter is preceded by a detailed list of contents.

The densely-written account chronicles the country's internal and external political affairs, as well as events occurring throughout Europe and, to a lesser extent, North America and North Africa. Topics addressed concern parliamentary leadership, wars, shifting alliances among major European powers, the French Revolution, and Britain's relationship with Ireland. The final chapter contains the author's reflections on King George III, written shortly after the King's death.

The appendix at the conclusion of Volume IV contains annual lists of appointments, births, marriages, and deaths between 1763 and 1820, as well as other information about domestic and European political affairs. The appointments include British political, religious, and military figures, and reflect some changes in peerage. Also recorded are births and deaths of European royal families.

Collection

Bunker Hill Monument souvenir photograph album, 1884

1 volume

This photograph album contains 10 albumen prints related to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

This souvenir photograph album (12cm x 18cm), which contains 10 albumen prints, is bound in blue pebbled book-cloth and has the title "Album Photographs[,] Bunker Hill Monument" stamped in gold on its cover. The first 2 pictures show the Bunker Hill Monument (a stone obelisk) and the statue of Colonel William Prescott, respectively. The remaining 8 photographs are aerial views of Charlestown and the surrounding area taken from the monument, showing residences, industrial buildings, the Charlestown Navy Yard, and the Charles and Mystic Rivers. Sailing ships are visible in many of the aerial views. The album belonged to Lucia K. Hathaway, who inscribed her name on its first page on November 15, 1884.

Collection

Andrews' Raid scrapbook and telegraph ledger, 1885-1888

1 volume

The Andrews' Raid scrapbook and telegraph ledger contains newspaper clippings dating from 1887 that recount the story of Andrews' Raid written by William Pittenger. Other clippings, almost all of which focus on the United States Army, are also included in the scrapbook. The majority of these clippings are glued onto the page, but some are loose. This scrapbook, whose compiler is unknown, was originally used as a telegraph ledger book for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and more than half of the volume still has these records visible.

The Andrews' Raid scrapbook and telegraph ledger contains newspaper clippings dating from 1887 that recount the story of Andrews' Raid written by William Pittenger, a Union soldier who survived the raid and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Other clippings, almost all of which focus on the United States Army, are also included in the scrapbook. Most of these are Civil War related but they include some Indian Wars material as well, including an account of Sitting Bull and Running Bear's raid on Fort Buford on August 20, 1868. The majority of these clippings are glued onto the page, but some are loose. This scrapbook, whose compiler is unknown, was originally used as a telegraph ledger book for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and more than half of the volume still has these records visible.

Collection

Traveling Circus Photograph Album, 1917-1929

approximately 70 photographs in 1 album & 6 loose photographs

The Traveling circus photograph album contains approximately 70 photographs plus 6 additional loose images related to traveling performers.

The Traveling circus photograph album contains approximately 70 photographs plus 6 additional loose images related to traveling performers. The album (14.5 x 21 cm) has black paper covers, and some photographs include handwritten captions. Images include group portraits of a dancing group called "Philip's Girls"; performers in costume for a performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Mason Bros.; the Mason Bros. band outside of a circus tent; the interior of a tent with folding chairs; a makeshift stage set up in a grocer's storefront; members of "Baylors Comedians"; the exterior of the Waverly Hippodrome labeled, "Empire Players, Lansing Park Theatre, 1917"; and people relaxing at the beach posing with swimwear and automobiles. One loose image (mount 21 x 26 cm) shows a group of six performers in costume including a clown, a devil, a cowboy, and a man in blackface standing in front of a horse-drawn wagon.