Specimens of penmanship from writing schools in Boston
Overview
201 specimens of penmanship from 18th-century Boston.
Dates
- Creation: 1748-1782
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
1 linear feet (2 boxes)201 single leaves generally copying a moral text or business account. Some use ornamental scripts and calligraphic drawings. Items are 32 x 41 cm or smaller. Many are in iron gall ink.
Includes specimens from: the South Writing School (50 items numbered SWS 1-50), including signed work of Abiah Holbrook (SWS 1-6, dated 1766-1770); the North Writing School (20 items numbered NWS 1-20); the Writing School in Queen Street (10 items numbered QSWS 1-10); unknown writing schools (109 items, numbered UWS 1-109), including signed work of John Fenno (UWS 33-36, dated 1764-1765); and Miscellaneous engravings including: engraved specimens of writing for copying (4 items, numbered MISC 1-4); sheets with decorative engraved borders (8 items numbered MISC 5-12, 59 x 31 cm or smaller), including borders printed by George Bickham, Henry Overton, and J. Deverson.
Biographical / Historical
The public schools of colonial Boston consisted of two grammar schools, the North and the South (called the Latin School) and three writing schools. The writing schools were the Writing School in Queen Street (opened in 1684), the North Writing School (founded in 1700), and the South Writing School (from 1720). The writing schools taught spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, and the catechism.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. South Writing School (SWS)
- ___A. Abiah Holbrook's work
- ___B. Student papers
- II. North Writing School (NWS)
- III. Queen Street Writing School (QSW)
- IV. Unknown writing schools (UWS)
- V. Miscellaneous engravings (MISC)
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Gift of Miss G. E. Holbrook; received: 1904 May 23.
Bibliography
Processing Information
Processed by: J. F. Coakley and Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Specimens of penmanship from writing schools in Boston, 1748-1782: Guide. MS Typ 473.22
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02526
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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