Dartmouth Digital Collections: Manuscripts & Typescripts
David Brainard Diary.
David Brainard's Camp Clay diary is a meticulously kept account of the daily happenings at Cape Sabine on the Ellesmere Island coast, where the men of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition lived as castaways through the long and desperate winter of 1883–1884.
Chronicles of England. [The Brut Chronicle]. ca. 1425-1450.
A legendary history of England. Medieval manuscript -- 121 leaves: parchment. Composed in Anglo-Norman sometime after 1272, then extended to 1333, and, finally, in about 1400 translated into English; includes second continuation, believed to have been written around 1430, that extends the account from 1377 to 1419.
Terence. Comoediae sex cum argumentis. 1462.
Six plays of the Roman writer Terence. Medieval manuscript -- 91 leaves: parchment. Written in Ferrara. Illuminated capitals and marginal commentaries throughout.
Western Manuscripts. various dates, pre-1600.
Descriptions and selected images from Dartmouth's collection of early manuscripts. The manuscripts represent a variety of types, formats, styles, and hands, demonstrating the development of the written word from its earliest times.
The Occom Circle
Handwritten documents by and about Samson Occom (1727-1792) housed in Dartmouth College. Occom was a Mohegan Indian, Presbyterian minister and missionary, intertribal leader, public intellectual, and important Indian writer. Dartmouth’s archives hold a wealth of primary holograph materials pertaining to Occom and his circle, which included Eleazar Wheelock, founder of Moor’s Indian Charity School in Lebanon, CT, other Native American students at Moor’s, and a wide range of prominent figures in North America and Great Britain involved in Indian missionary efforts
Correspondence of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. 1761-1865.
Correspondence to, from, and concerning Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819), a United States naval commander famed for his victories in the War of 1812.
Dartmouth College Charter. 1769.
Image and transcription of the charter for Dartmouth College, signed by Theodore Atkinson and John Wentworth on December 13, 1769.
Jewelry Design Books of Jaques and Marcus, 1890 to 1910
Eight volumes of custom jewelry design books from the firm of Jaques and Marcus, later Marcus and Co., ca. 1890 - ca. 1910. The books contain pen and ink drawings of jewelry with wash and pigment coloration. Each design was custom-made for clients and the designs were later pasted into the volumes. Included are designs for brooches, pendants, hair ornaments, chains, and necklaces. The design books are an important source for researching the work of Jaques and Marcus, but also offer a wealth of inspiration.
John McCoy Family Papers. 1847-1899.
The John McCoy Family papers contain letters, discharge papers, and pension payment records from 1847-1899. The letters describe John McCoy's time as a Union soldier in the US Civil War while stationed in North Carolina and at hospitals in North Carolina and Rhode Island. The letters also include descriptions of his ongoing health problems, his family back home in Quebec as well and financial problems facing the family.
Old Dartmouth Classification Schedules.
The Old Dartmouth Classification Schedules is a classification system for books, created and used by the Dartmouth College Library in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Dartmouth Library Cataloging System was developed by Marvin Davis Bisbee, Dartmouth Class of 1871, appointed Librarian at Dartmouth College in 1887. It was modeled after a system created by Charles Ammi Cutter, a library science pioneer of the time. The new system tracked objects by subject, author, and title
Sino-Viet Ritual Texts. 1924.
These three unique manuscripts of rituals in classical Chinese and Vietnamese Nom are traceable to medieval China. One of the manuscripts can be dated to 1924. They contain practical Buddhist-Taoist rituals on death, healing and natural disasters. The manuscripts contain Chinese calligraphy from different calligraphers, colorful illustrations and inserts written in Vietnamese Nom. Their origin is unknown.
The Stone Family Papers. 1571-1933.
The papers of the Stone family contain parchment indentures, covenants, probate deeds and wills, manuscript notes, letters, receipts and invoices. The documents chronicle the legal transactions of Richard Stone (circa 1570-1653) of Clayhanger, Devon and Chipstable, Somerset, England and his descendants.
The Papers of Charles Daniel Tenney. 1907-1925.
Includes essays, speeches and translations concerning Tenney's time in China as well as his views on education, the tensions between Christian missions and Confucianism, criticism of the Chinese language and writing system, criticism of the 1911 revolution and the founding of the Chinese Republic, as well as Tenney's thoughts on the Jewish colony and tablets at Keifeng. Additionally, included is Tenney's typescript copy of Bishop George Smith's translation of the Keifeng Jewish Tablets.
Press Translations, Japan. 1945-1946
Press Translations / Japan was produced by the General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Allied Translator and Interpreter Section during the U.S. Occupation of post-World War II Japan. It consists of English summaries or full translations of newspaper articles and editorials from November 1945 to June 1946. This searchable database contains incomplete holdings of four series of the translations: Economic, Editorial, Political, and Social.
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur (1879-1962). The Encyclopedia Arctica (1947-1951).
A color facsimile and searchable full text version of an unpublished Arctic encyclopedia, sponsored in the 1940s by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. The 15-volume Encyclopedia covers many scientific, geographic, zoological, and ethnographical subjects, and includes maps, diagrams, and biographies of important Arctic figures. For additional Stefansson materials, see Images (1906-1918) from The Stefansson Collection of Arctic Photographs.
Down to the Countryside Movement. 1968-1980.
This unique original collection at the Dartmouth Library includes diaries, manuscripts, letters, photographs, and artifacts created by former youths during the rustication period in China from 1968-1980. These images provide access to first-hand accounts reflecting on their experiences, shifting their perspectives, and recalling their living conditions during this historical movement in the midst of the Cultural Revolution.
Antiphonal. 16th century.
An antiphonal contains the chants for the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church. The large format allowed the entire choir to sing from a single book. This example was produced in the 16th century, most likely in Spain. It came to Dartmouth in 2006 as a gift from Michelle Stacy, class of 1977.