The Library of Congress >  Researchers >  Search Finding Aids  >  Manuscript holdings from the Library of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., ca. 1450-1935

Manuscript holdings from the Library of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., ca. 1450-1935

Contact UsHelpSearch All Finding Aids
ContainerContents
Selected Manuscript Holdings from the Library of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Contains correspondence, sermon notes, recipe books, household account books, notebooks, travel journals, tributes, diaries, an address book, a medical account book, photograph album, book of quotations, Latin vocabulary, a medieval medical recipe book, and a ship's log.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 1 Holmes MS 1 Facsimile copy of Oliver Wendell Holmes black book, 1881-1935
28.5 cm x 22cm; 160 pages
Facsimile copy of Oliver Wendell Holmes' black book. Letter dated January 20, 1941 pasted to the front board from John G. Palfrey, Literary Executor and Legatee of Mr. Justice Holmes to Richard W. Hale, Esq. of Boston, Massachusetts with instructions regarding how the book should be used in relation to O.W. Holmes' library.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 2 Holmes MS 2 Copybook, May 1875
28.5 cm x 22.5 cm; 85 numbered pages; begins on page 21
Tomas Groom & Co. Stationers account book used as a copybook and organized by date. The majority of the quotations taken from the journal of John Winthrop and other colonial preachers. Written in pen.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 3 Holmes MS 3 Notebook, undated
18 cm x 11.5 cm
Fairbacks & Co Stationers notebook with notes regarding ceremonial matters of etiquette at a White House dinner. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 4 Holmes MS 4 Notepad, undated
16.5 cm x 10.5 cm; 27 leaves
Personal notepad of recipes and poems. "Fanny B. Dixwell" written on the first page. Written in pencil.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 5 Holmes MS 5 vol. 1 Amelia J. Holmes recipes for French cooking, May 10, 1866
21 cm x 18 cm; 55 leaves; conservation binding.
Recipes divided into the following categories: soups, fish, meats, vegetables, eggs, cake, caramel sauce, desserts, bread, drinks. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 5 Holmes MS 5 vol. 2 Recipes collected by Amelia J. Holmes, multiple dates
24 individually encased leaves numbered 1-16, 18-25
A collection of loose-leaf recipes once kept with MS 5 and rehoused separately. Most recipes hand-written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 6 Holmes MS 6 Amelia S. Holmes account book, 1870
21 cm x 17.5 cm; 50 leaves
Account book with calendar pasted to the front board. Expenses divided into nine categories. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 7 Holmes MS 7 Lexicon to Ammianus Marcellinus, 1837
16.5 cm x 11 cm; 9 leaves
Handwritten vocabulary aid from Latin to English. Organized by page number beginning with "vol. 1" of an unnamed title. Front page of notebook missing, but the back page reads, "Lexicon to Ammianus Marcellinus Constantinopolitan Historian. Signed "w.t. h. May 23, 1837." Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 8 Holmes MS 8 Manuscript sermon book, April '97 - October '97 [1797?]
15.5 cm x 9 cm; 92 leaves
Handwritten sermon book. Front leaf inscribed with the signature of "John Coity." Most entries begin: "by m Saltonstall in NC" and are followed by the time of day (morning or afternoon) and the date. One entry begins "by m Joanes of N Haven in NC." Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 9 Holmes MS 9 Manuscript sermon book of Reverend Joshua Moodey (supposed) written partly in shorthand, 1673-1684
16 cm x 10 cm; 141 leaves
Handwritten sermon book. The first two pages are written in a second hand and include a biographical sketch of Dr. Moodey and reasons for which the author attributes the manuscript to his authorship. Laid-in leaf with signature of Benjamin Trumbell. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 10 Holmes MS 10 Manuscript book of sermon notes of Jacob Wendell, before 1761
10.5 cm x 16 cm; 90 leaves
Handwritten sermon book. Note on inside cover reads: "Written by Jacob Wendell, who was of Rev. M. Colman Chh. & afterwards Mr. William Cooper in the home church. The handwriting is perfectly similar to the letter of his in my posession (above statement approved autograph of Wendell, J. W.)."
MANUSCRIPT BOX 11 Holmes MS 11 Manuscript book of sermon notes, 1728-1730
16.5 cm x 11 cm; 171 leves
Handwritten sermon book. Entries begin with a date, the name of the preacher, and the biblical reference on which the sermon is based. Two signatures on the inside of the front board read: "Doctor Foster" and "OW Holmes Boston." The item is missing a title page and leaves at the front of the volume. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 12 Holmes MS 12 Journal of George Otis, May 1824 - November 1824
21 cm x 8 cm; 146 73 leaves, leaves 6-8 missing. Numerous excisions replaced with rice paper. Conservation binding and fly leaves.
Diary of Reverend George Otis (b.1797 - d.1828), M.A., Instructor in Harvard College, Officiator of Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Brief entries arranged by date commenting on matters personal and professional. Written in ink. .
MANUSCRIPT BOX 13 Holmes MS 13 Charles Wentworth Upham's Outline of Tour in Europe Vol. I, May 15, 1855 - November 21, 1856
25 cm x 20 cm; 143 pages
Travel diary of Charles Wentworth Upham (b.1830-d.1860). Charles was the son of Charles Wentworth Upham (b.1802- d.1875) and Ann Susan Holmes Upham (b.1804-d.1877). He went to Harvard 1852, and married in 1859 Mary Haven. Volume I Includes details of his European travels in the British Isles, specifically the cities of Liverpool, Chester, Bangor, London, as well as trips to Ireland and Wales. Also includes descriptions of travels in Continental Europe including: Antwerp, the Hague, Rotterdam, Leyden, Haarlen, Amsterdam, Cologne, Bonn, Coblentz, the Rhine, Frankfurt am Main, Heidelberg, Badeu, Strasburg, Basle, Bern, Freiburg, Vevey, the Castle of Chillon, Geneva, the Alps, and Paris.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 13 Holmes MS 14 Charles Wentworth Upham's Outline of Tour in Europe Vol. II, May 15, 1855 - November 21, 1856
25 cm x 20 cm; 228 pages
Travel diary of Charles Wentworth Upham (b.1830-d.1860). Volume II includes visits to the following locations: Paris, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Spain, Marseilles, Nimes, Avignon.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 13 Holmes MS 15 Charles Wentworth Upham's Outline of Tour in Europe Vol. III, May 15, 1855 - November 21, 1856
25 cm x 20 cm; 213 pages
Travel diary of Charles Wentworth Upham (b.1830-d.1860). Volume III includes travels to the following locations: Naples, Rome, Floence, Bologna, Mantua, Venice, Milan, Lake Como and Maggiore, Geneva, Zurich, the Rhine, Lake Coustence, Munich, Nuremburg, Ratisbonne, the Danube, Vienna, Prague, Dresden, Eisenach, Leipsic, Berlin, Humboldt, Rauch, Potsdam, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Brussels, Waterloo, Paris, London, York, Edinburg, Melrose, Dryburg, Abbotsford, Lochs Hatrine and Lomound, Glasgow, Carlisle, Penrith, Ayrshire, Brougham Hall, Keswick, Ullswater, Derwentwater, Rydall, Windermere, Kenilworth, Stratford-upon-Avon, Rugby, Newstead Abbey, Lincoln, Boston, London, Portsmouth, Southampton, Upham, Salisbury, Oxford, Liverpool.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 16 Holmes MS 16 Journal of a Voyage from Calcutta to Boston in the Brig Nereus commanded by Capt. Thomas Bowditch Begun Thursday 25th of February 1819 and terminated, Feburary 25, 1819
28.5 cm x 23 .5 cm; 259 pages
Maritime logbook. Includes information about the directional course, the winds, the milage, calculations as to location, and general remarks. Written in ink in a measured cursive on laid paper. The end of the notebook includes lunar observations and navigational calculations using the Bennett and Bowditch methods.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 17 Holmes MS 17 Collection of sermons, undated
19.5 cm x 15 cm; 240 leaves
Handwritten sermon book. Each entry begins with a biblical verse, often written first in Greek with an English translation and a citation for the chapter and verse of the biblical study. Front paste down has ink signatures of a "OW Holmes" as well as "James Willson" and the back flyleaf reads, "James Willson His Book 1725 Giving him by his Brother John Willson.” The front cover also reads, "The author of this ms was born Sept. 1 1596. Educated & lived sixteen years in a university, and was writing His collection AD 1635. vid. page 90". Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 18 Holmes MS 18 Suffolk Superior Judiciary Court (S.J.C) March Term, 1814
18 cm x 12.5 cm; 36 leaves
Entries of Superior Judiciary Court Cases. Includes entries from March Term 1814, November Term 1814, and March Term 1815. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 19 Holmes MS 19 Association of the Officers of the Twentieth Regiment of Mass. Vol. Infanty. Manuscript book of annual meetings., 1866
26 cm x 20.5 cm
Manuscript book of annual meetings. Brief entries often including the date, location, and names of the individuals present.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 20 Holmes MS 20 Manuscript medical account book of Dr. James Oliver, August 12, (16)85
15.5 cm x 10.5 cm; 70 leaves
Medical account book for Dr. Oliver's practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts contains prescriptions for patients and the charges for medicine and other things. Written in ink. For Oliver Wendell Holmes' description, see Oliver Wendell Holmes' Medical Essays 1842-1882 in The Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes Vol. 9 (Reprint Services Corporation, Dec 21, 2007): 336.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 21 Holmes MS 21 Memoir of Dr. John Brown, undated
10 cm x 13.5 cm
Small manuscript notebook with "Memoir of Dr. John Brown" written on the cover. "O.W. Holmes Boston" inscribed on the inside of the flyleaf. Letter inside addressed to Mr. Holmes dated 21st of June, but no year provided.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 22 Holmes MS 22 Medieval Italian medical recipe book, 15th century?
10.5 cm x 7.5 cm; 79 leaves
Incomplete manuscript recipe book in red and black ink with rubrication. Script is a neat bookhand. Title page and colophon lacking. Some annotations in the form of strikethroughs and manicules.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 23 Holmes MS 23 "Thirty Years at Long Wharf" by George Watson Prescott, April 23, 1890
18 cm x 13cm; 45 leaves
The front flyleaf has the following dedication in ink: "Prof. Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D.." The book contains a summary of accounts organized by decade for the years 1860 to 1890. Preface written by George Watson Prescott. Written in ink.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 24 Holmes MS 24 A rhymed letter by General William G. LeDuc, April 22, 1913
20.5 cm x 14.5 cm; 6 leaves
Typewritten letter in verse form with manuscript introduction by General William G. LeDuc to Justice Holmes. Ink corrections and annotations added in manuscript hand.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 25 Holmes MS 25 Photo album of Granston Manor, 1898
16.5 cm x 21 cm; 19 photographs on 9 leaves
Small photo album containing black and white photographs, some faded. On the clothbound cover is written: "Granston manor 1898."
MANUSCRIPT BOX 26 Holmes MS 26 Manuscript translated from St. Helena by an Unkown Channel, 1817
26 cm x 20 cm; 108 leaves. Typescript. Paper covers. Laid in, two letters dated December 9 and 10th (no year) from Franklin K. Lane to Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, presenting this item
Enclosed correspondence indicates that this typewritten manuscript was provided to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr by Franklin Knight Lane. Lane refers to the manuscript as "the socialist autobiography of Napoleon." The typewritten manuscript is a clean copy, and contains no markings of any kind on its 108 leaves. The author's name is not listed on the manuscript, but is thought to be Frederic Lullin de Chateauvieux.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 27 Holmes MS 27 A Message from Students of Northwestern University Law School to Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, January 12, 1932
25 cm x 17.5 cm
A brief laudatory letter with 17 pages of student signatures.
MANUSCRIPT BOX 28 Holmes MS 28 A Tribute by the Lucas County, Ohio, Bar Assocation to Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on his Ninety-first Birthday, March 5, 1932
28.5 cm x 24.5 cm; 58 typewritten leaves of typewriter paper; 3 photographs; 2 newspaper clippings; 1 card for the Secretary of Interior; contained in its original McM Ring Book notebook.
The typewritten minutes of a special meeting of the Lucas County Bar Association held in the Court Room of Judge Robert G. Gosline, Toledo, Ohio. The meeting was called to order by DeWitt Fisher, President of the Lucas County Bar Association, for the purpose of paying tribute to Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on the occasion of his ninety-first birthday. Includes letters to DeWitt Fisher in support of the honorary proceeding, as well as three photographs. Two newspaper clippings from the New York Times dated May 10, 1933 regarding the removal of Diego Rivera from the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center, New York.

Contents List