Student essays of Joseph Stevens Buckminster
Overview
This collection contains five handwritten essays composed by Joseph Stevens Buckminster (1784-1812; Harvard AB 1800) when he was an undergraduate at Harvard College in 1798 and 1799. Buckminster, an influential Unitarian minister of the Brattle Street Church in Cambridge, was instrumental in disseminating German biblical criticism in New England. Buckminster's student essays follow a format typical for late 18th century Harvard undergraduate essays and delve into themes of greed, the role of the arts in human refinement, conscience, and the ills of procrastination. The compositions provide a resource for studying the academic life of Harvard undergraduates in the 18th century, and they offer information on the subjects and styles of student themes and orations.
Dates
- Creation: 1798-1799
Researcher Access
The student essays are open for research.
Copying Restriction
Copying of fragile materials may be limited.
Extent
.17 cubic feet (1 half dcoument box)This collection contains five handwritten essays composed by Joseph Stevens Buckminster when he was an undergraduate at Harvard College in 1798 and 1799. The essays follow a format typical for late 18th century Harvard undergraduate essays beginning with a relevant quote, often from Virgil or Ovid, and following with a short discussion of a moral issue. Buckminster's essays delve into themes of greed, the role of the arts in human refinement, conscience, and the ills of procrastination. The essays range from three to four pages and are written on folded unruled sheets. The compositions provide a resource for studying the academic life of Harvard undergraduates in the 18th century, and they offer information on the subjects and styles of student themes and orations.
Biographical Note
Joseph Stevens Buckminster (1784-1812) was an influential Unitarian minister of the Brattle Street Church in Cambridge, Mass. He was instrumental in disseminating German biblical criticism in New England.
Buckminster was born on May 26, 1784 in Portsmouth, NH. He entered Harvard College at the age of thirteen and received an AB in 1800 at the age of sixteen; he received an AM in 1803. Buckminster was ordained as the pastor of Cambridge's Brattle Street Church on January 20, 1805. In 1806 and 1807, he traveled through Europe and collected a library of 3,000 volumes that would become the foundation of the library of the Boston Athenaeum. As a member of the Anthology Club, Buckminster helped found the Boston Athenaeum and also edited and contributed to the Club’s Monthly Anthology, one of America’s earliest literary magazines. In 1811, Buckminster was appointed the Dexter Lecturer of biblical criticism at Harvard, but died before he could begin teaching. Buckminster died on June 9, 1812 in Boston. Buckminster was the son of Joseph Buckminster (Yale AB 1770), and the grandson of Joseph Buckminster (Harvard AB 1734).
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in chronological order.
Acquisition information
The essays were received on January 19, 1923 from the library of Professor Charles Eliot Norton.
Online access
All of the papers have been digitized and are available online. Links accompany detailed descriptions.
References
- The Works of Joseph Stevens Buckminster : with memoirs of his life. Boston: J. Munroe, 1839.
General note
This document last updated 2018 November 26.
Processing Information
The material was first classified and described in the Harvard University Archives shelflist prior to 1980. The material was re-processed in 2011. Re-processing involved a collection survey, re-housing in appropriate archival folders and boxes, and the creation of this finding aid.
This finding aid was created by Diann Benti in February 2011.
Preservation and description of the Student essays of Joseph Stevens Buckminster was supported by the Arcadia-funded project Harvard in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
- Title
- Buckminster, J. S. (Joseph Stevens), 1784-1812. Student essays of Joseph Stevens Buckminster, 1798-1799: an inventory
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua12011
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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