The Francis Hopkinson notebook provides insights into the finances, and, to a lesser degree, the personal affairs of an American statesman. Entries span 11/21/1785-9/3/1790, with one or two outlying entries, one dated 2/20/1784, and another, which records the death of a "Mr. Bordeu," from 4/8/1791. Given that Hopkinson himself died in November 1791, this volume provides a window into his final years. Most entries are devoted to accounts. For example, Hopkinson notes the purchase of a ten-volume encyclopedia (2/15/1790). However, he occasional references personal affairs, as he does on 10/15/1790, when he writes, "Nancy went to school again." This notebook may interest researchers exploring Hopkinson's biography or Philadelphia during the early national period.
 

The John Pershouse papers contain two volumes of genealogical data from the late-eighteenth century, two letter books thought to belong to his nephew (Henry Pershouse), and one travel journal. The journal is noteworthy because it furnishes accounts of transatlantic travel in the early national period. While the first entry notes Pershouse's departure from Liverpool to Boston on a 56-day voyage (2/1/1800), regular entries begin around 1826 and continue to late-1838. As a Philadelphia merchant, Pershouse regularly records distances, accounts, and sights in Europe and the United States. Notably, he travels on a ship under the command of a Captain Matlack (presumably Timothy Matlack), travels extensively in the U.S. Southeast and Midwest, and notes the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in 1830—all excerpted in Selected Quotations. Researchers interested in U.S. domestic and transatlantic travel during the antebellum period ought to find this volume particularly useful.