Harvard College Diploma of Bernard Berenson

On 29 June 1887, Bernard was awarded a B.A. cum laude. This honor, according to the Annual Report of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1877–1878, “is to be given to those who attain seventy-five percent on the general scale, and to those who receive Honorable Mention in any study together with sixty-five per cent on the general scale, or seventy per cent on the last three years, or seventy-five per cent on the last two.” Perhaps his freshman year at Boston University disqualified Bernard for the higher honor of magna cum laude. His three year grade average at Harvard was 81.8%, and he received a 95% on his Thesis in Semetic”; see cat. BB.II.2.

BB.II.5

Biblioteca Berenson, Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. Bernard and Mary Berenson Papers, Series: Biographical (1.3a)