Most of the college catalogs in the 1870s provide students with a list of suggested reference books. Books on the list for students included Lord Kames’ Elements of Criticism, Louis Bautain’s Art of Extempore Speaking, H.L.D. Potter’s Manual of Reading, Noah Porter’s Human Intellect, With an Introduction Upon Psychology and the Soul, George P. Marsh’s Lectures on the English Language, and Roget’s Thesaurus. The Hillman Library has a student copy of Kames’ Elements of Criticism.
