Early Private Libraries in New England.

The article discusses private libraries in New England as reflected by estate inventory records from probate courts. The author notes that the only books included in many estates were Bibles and psalm books and that in some inventories, individual books were not identified but grouped as collections. The personal libraries of New Haven, Connecticut residents Edward Tench and Samuel Eaton and of former Connecticut governor John Winthrop are described. Clergyman John Harvard donated his private library, consisting of theological and philosophical literature, to what would become Harvard College. The libraries of former Plymouth, Massachusetts governors William Bradford and Thomas Prince are also discussed.