This volume contains a number of writings on alchemy by different authors in both prose and poetry, probably collected and bound in the latter half of the 16th century. The volume, which most likely belonged to John Winthrop, Jr., was repaired and bound in its present form in 1933. Also included at the beginning of the microfilm are a typewritten article by C. A. Browne and a note by Robert C. Winthrop with further information on the volume and its contents.

The earliest document in this volume is a deed of William Winthrop (1529-1582), and the last is an article on Melford Hall. Other items include photographs, other deeds, mortgages, indentures (some with copies), maps and drawings, funeral elegies, military and civilian commissions, diplomas, and miscellaneous papers. For a complete listing, see the table of contents at the front of the volume.

The first part of this volume consists of copies of remedies taken from a number of 16th-century sources, among them Jean Fernel's "booke of the generall methode of curinge of feavers," Christof Wirsung's Praxis Medicinae Universalis, Hugh Plat's The Jewell House of Art and Nature, John Banister's edition of Johann Wecker's A Compendious Chyrurgerie, and The Secrets of...Alexis of Piedmont. Interspersed among the medical recipes are instructions for preserving fruits and making tarts, gingerbread, and several kinds of cake. At the end of the volume, written in several different hands, are notes on religion and alchemy, some in English and others in Latin.

Of this volume, Robert C. Winthrop, in Life and Letters of John Winthrop, writes: "An additional illustration of Winthrop's character and habits...is furnished by a little autograph volume, found among his papers, in which all the sermons which he heard on Sundays and on prayer-days, during a large part of the years 1627 and 1628, are noted, with the names of the preachers, the texts of their discourses, and the various heads and arguments carefully written out."

Gov. John Winthrop's journal describes events in the history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from the sailing of the Arbella in Mar. 1630 until shortly before Winthrop's death. As the chief source of information on the colony's early history, Winthrop's journal was later used in the writings of historians such as William Hubbard, Cotton Mather, Thomas Prince, and Jeremy Belknap.

The first part of this volume consists of notes and exercises in Latin, probably not written by John Winthrop, Jr. At the end of the volume are accounts and notes made by John Winthrop, Jr. at the time of his preparation for the voyage to New England in 1631.

Tantiusques was a black lead (graphite) mine in the vicinity of Sturbridge, Mass., originally granted to John Winthrop, Jr. in 1644 and later the property of his descendants. Both John Winthrop, Jr. and his grandson John Winthrop, F.R.S., attempted unsuccessfully to profit from the mine. In 1828, the mine passed into the hands of Frederic Tudor and, during the remainder of the 19th century, was worked sporadically by a number of companies.

Also included with this volume are seven letters, 1899-1903, related to Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s gift of the volume to the American Antiquarian Society; his comments on George H. Haynes's article about Tantiusques in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society in 1901; and copies of Frederic Tudor's diary entries dealing with his ownership and operation of the mine.

This small notebook, thought to be in the hand of Adam Winthrop (1676-1743), contains reading or lecture notes in Latin, perhaps made while he was a student at Harvard College, 1690-1694.

This volume was first used by John Winthrop, F.R.S., who made miscellaneous notes on scattered pages throughout. Later, John Still Winthrop (1720-1776) recorded genealogical data taken from memoranda of Wait Winthrop and John Winthrop, F.R.S. Finally, Francis Bayard Winthrop added genealogical notes, copies of a few letters, and miscellaneous memoranda.

Mrs. Grenville Temple Winthrop collected 7 volumes of American and European autographs and photographs. Included in this microfilm are only those items written to or by a member of the Winthrop family--17 items in all from volumes 1, 2, and 4. The earliest document is a letter from Sir Grenville Temple to Thomas Lindall Winthrop, and the last is part of a letter from one of Charles Darwin's sons, enclosing an autograph of his father.

The journal of William Winthrop (1753-1825), son of Prof. John Winthrop, consists of ten notebooks kept from 1 May 1812 to 15 Dec. 1824. Most of the entries relate to the operation of Winthrop's farm overlooking the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass., including notes on the weather, accounts, records of planting and cattle, and descriptions of work performed by his hired men. The first page of the first notebook contains notes in another hand, perhaps that of John Reed, whose name appears on the cover. Toward the end of his life, William Winthrop was almost blind, and entries for 1823 and 1824 are fewer and written in a different hand, presumably that of his housekeeper Nabby Allen. Also included are loose papers, scattered through several notebooks, including receipts and miscellaneous memoranda.

These two bound volumes contain extracts from Robert C. Winthrop's letters to John P. Kennedy, John C. Lee, John H. Clifford, and Hugh Blair Grigsby; a few miscellaneous letters; and letters from John H. Clifford to Robert C. Winthrop. Also included, at the end of the second volume, are extracts from Winthrop's commonplace books and diaries. These copies were made by Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.

While Robert C. Winthrop was a Congressman from Massachusetts in 1846, his vote on the controversial Mexican War Bill aroused strong opposition, and he was virulently criticized by Charles Sumner in the Boston Courier and in a private letter to Winthrop. Believing he had been misrepresented, Winthrop defended his vote. In 1872, when a new edition of Sumner's works appeared, Winthrop wrote his own account of the controversy, which appears in this volume.

Robert C. Winthrop made a number of trips to Europe and kept a journal of each, detailing his activities, impressions, and people he met. This volume describes his first trip to Europe, Apr.-Sep. 1847, with his son Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. Winthrop arrived in England with letters of introduction from Edward Everett and Daniel Webster and met most of the men prominent in politics, literature, and religion, with many of whom he formed lasting friendships. After more than a month in London, father and son spent June and part of July in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium before returning to England. There they visited the ancestral home in Groton and nearby towns, as well as Scotland and Ireland.

In this volume, Robert C. Winthrop describes his election as speaker of the House of Representatives in Dec. 1847 and his defeat for the same office in Dec. 1849. The volume also contains several related printed items, including a letter from E. Carrington Cabell of Florida to the National Intelligencer; correspondence between Robert C. Winthrop and John G. Palfrey of Massachusetts, 1848; a letter from Isaac E. Holmes of South Carolina to the Charleston Mercury, Jan. 1848; John P. Kennedy's sketch of Robert C. Winthrop in the American Review, Mar. 1848, with Winthrop's speech on taking the House chair; an 1883 newspaper clipping entitled "Winthrop, Toombs and Stephens"; and Robert C. Winthrop's remarks on Jeremiah Morrow and Samuel F. Vinton at the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1890. Inserted at page 67, in Robert C. Winthrop's hand, is a statement by George Ashmun of Springfield, Mass.

These two volumes, one for each session of the 30th Congress, contain the accounts kept by Robert C. Winthrop between Dec. 1847 and Mar. 1849. Accounts include payments to members of the House of Representatives and the total each received for per diem pay and mileage allowance.

This list of representatives from each state, with party affiliation, was compiled for Robert C. Winthrop by J. H. Clay Mudd, assistant clerk of the House, at the time of Winthrop's unsuccessful bid for re-election as speaker in Dec. 1849.

In July 1850, Robert C. Winthrop was chosen as Massachusetts senator to replace Daniel Webster, who had resigned to become secretary of state. Winthrop served in the Senate until Feb. 1851. This volume contains copies of extracts from letters to Winthrop about his work in the Senate; one from Winthrop to John P. Kennedy; and a pamphlet of Proceedings of the United States Senate on the Fugitive Slave Bill..., with a speech Winthrop made at the time.

These three small notebooks contain proverbs collected by William Winthrop (born William Winthrop Andrews) (1809?-1869), great-grandson of Prof. John Winthrop and U.S. consul at Malta from 1834-1869. The bulk of the proverbs are English, although the third notebook includes proverbs translated from foreign languages. The numbers on the pages of the first two volumes are not page numbers, but represent the number of proverbs collected to that point.

George Derby Welles was the son of Laura Welles Winthrop, second wife of Robert C. Winthrop. This volume contains autographs of a number of Robert C. Winthrop's well-known friends, some written directly onto the pages, others taken from letters to his mother or stepfather and pasted into the book.

This diary consists of ten small notebooks bound together and describes Robert C. Winthrop's second European trip. After renewing acquaintances in London, Winthrop and his family traveled to Paris and witnessed the celebrations following the successful Italian war against Austria. Winthrop met and visited with many notable people: at Vienna, he was presented to Emperor Franz Josef and visited old Prince Esterhazy, whom he had known earlier in London; in Rome, he had a private audience with Pope Pius IX, met Cardinal Antonelli and other Catholic church leaders, and visited the studios of American sculptors; he spent an hour with Prime Minister Cavour at Turin; and he saw the Genoa birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

During this trip, however, the Winthrop family suffered many misfortunes. Winthrop's wife Laura Welles Winthrop developed an eye infection and needed surgery in Berlin in July 1860. His stepson George Derby Welles contracted typhoid fever while in Vienna, and his recovery was slow. And in Apr. 1860, Fanny Winthrop, wife of Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., died in Rome.

William Winthrop (born William Winthrop Andrews) (1809?-1869) was U.S. consul at Malta, 1834-1869, and a knight commander of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In this volume, he describes the origin and development of the Order of St. John, battles between Christian and Muslim fleets, the treatment of Christian prisoners by Muslims and vice versa, the battle for Rhodes, the intermittent wars against Mediterranean pirates, and the end of Christian slavery with Lord Exmouth's victory over the dey of Algiers in 1816.

This diary details Robert C. Winthrop's third European journey, June 1867-Oct. 1868. After visiting old friends in England and sightseeing in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, the Winthrops traveled to Paris, where they saw the Paris Exposition and where Winthrop heard the debates in the Chamber of Deputies on the German and Italian questions. The family spent the winter months in the south of France and in Italy; in Rome, Winthrop sat for a bust by Hiram Powers. During the following spring and summer, the Winthrops were again in France and England. Back in the United States in the fall, they spent several weeks in Canandaigua, N.Y., before returning to Brookline, Mass.

In this diary, Robert C. Winthrop describes his fourth European trip. Because of the delicate health of his third wife Adele Thayer Winthrop and her daughter Adele Thayer, the family decided to spend the winter and spring in a warmer climate. After several months in Cannes, they traveled to Rome, Florence, Paris, and London. Winthrop missed the Lexington and Bunker Hill centennial celebrations, at both of which he'd been invited to speak. In the spring of 1875, the family visited Suffolk County, England, to see the newly completed Winthrop memorial window in the church at Groton, then toured northern England and Scotland and made a final shopping trip to Paris before returning home.

This volume contains a list of Robert C. Winthrop, Jr.'s communications to the Massachusetts Historical Society from the time of his election as a resident member in 1879 to 1901. Also included are memoranda on his activities at the MHS and on its building, opened in 1899.

This diary describes Robert C. Winthrop's final trip to Europe with his wife Adele and her daughter Adele Thayer, Mar.-Nov. 1882. Highlights include: the unveiling of a memorial window to Sir Walter Raleigh at St. Margaret's Church in London, for which Winthrop had raised more than half the money; Winthrop's visit of several days to the Chateau de Rochambeau in France, where he was assigned "the grand state chamber in which the old Marquis slept, with his state bed, and with the original portrait of Washington, by Peale, which Washington himself had sent to Rochambeau"; and the Winthrops' brief visit with the Duc d'Aumale at Chantilly.

Robert C. Winthrop served as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1855 to 1885. After his death in 1894, Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. was appointed by the MHS to write a memoir of his father. This manuscript volume contains some of the letters written to Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. in response to the memoir, as well as newspaper and periodical reviews.