A Copy of the Laws of Harvard College, 1665 (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. Excerpt from book: Section 1A COPY OF THE LAWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE, 1655. The following copy of the laws of Harvard College, in 1655, appears to have been given to the library in the year 1799. It has recently been found among the papers of a deceased member of the Society, and been returned by one of his family. According to the memorandum written on the cover, this copy was presented to the Histor' Society, 1799, by John Pinchon, of Salem; and this is the only record in regard to the manuscript. It comprises fourteen pages of closely written paper, of duodecimo size, the last two pages being in a different handwriting and on different paper. The first twelve pages seem to have been- more used, and are considerably torn and worn about the edges. These have been placed in a double paper cover, of which one leaf at the back contains the two pages in the different hand. At the end is written Admittatur Jonathan Mitchellus in collegia Harvardinu 22. 8. 1683. Jne Rogers. Prses. Samuel Andrew Sociusj. From this it would appear that it was given to Jonathan Mitchell, a graduate of 1687, on his admission as a Freshman. It was the custom then, as it is now, for each student, on entering college, to have a copy of the laws, though now it is given to him in print. At that time, he was obliged to procure it himself; and, as paper was scarce, it is likely that the body of the pamphlet was sometimes handed down from one generation of students to another, and constituted a kind of textit{transmitten- dum. Under such circumstances, it was natural that there should be verbal variations in the laws, as they were sometimes written by different hands. As the students graduated, their copies were frequently put in new covers, and, with the addition of the last two pages including the Admittatur, and c., taken by the Freshmen. The figu...