Scope and Contents Note From the Collection: The inside cover of the journal bears the date October 2, 1838 and also the year 1841. The first fifty-one pages of the journal consist of a collection of essays on various topics, apparently written as school assignments. Of the twenty-three essays, nine are initialed J A McN or some variation. Eight bear the initials J H T. Six are labeled M L B. The essays are short and the topics range from descriptions of scenery, imaginative paragraphs written from the points of view of animals or...