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The papers are comprised of more than 2,500 original autograph manuscript letters and dispatches received by Sir Edward Thornton, and manuscript copies of Thornton's outgoing official and private correspondence and dispatches, in the period following the American Civil War. Thornton's correspondence was with several important figures in British foreign policy including foreign secretaries Edward Henry Stanley, George William Frederick Villiers, and George Leveson-Gower. Hundreds of other letters are from or to the under-secretaries of state for foreign affairs Edmund Hammond and Charles Stuart Aubrey Abbott. Topics discussed include issues such as the Alabama Claims, the boundary between the United States and Canada in the Pacific Northwest, fishing rights in Newfoundland, American efforts to secure land in Colombia for a trans-Isthmian canal, American encouragement of the independence movement in Cuba against Spain, questions over naturalization and citizenship, and raids by Irish-American Fenians against Canada. In his confidential letters to the foreign secretaries, Thornton discussed American politics and the personalities of American politicians, including presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant, secretaries of state William Seward and Hamilton Fish, and the American ambassadors to Great Britain Reverdy Johnson and John Lothrop Motley.

The papers consist of correspondence, letterbooks, order books, signal logs, and related naval and Admiralty papers that document aspects of Sir John Orde's naval career, primarily during the Napoleonic Wars. The collection provides substantial information related to Orde's bitter disputes with Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, Lord St. Vincent; his rivalry with Horatio Nelson; and his professional frustration with the workings of the Admiralty Board and its bureaucracy. The collection also contains information on Orde's tenure as governor of Dominica and his suppression of mutinies at Plymouth and on board the Princess Royal. In addition to Lord St. Vincent and Horatio Nelson, correspondents include Baron Gambier, Sir John Duckworth, Sir Evan Nepean, Viscount Melville, and other contemporary naval and political figures.

The collection consists primarily of letters from Scott to various correspondents, including James Ballantyne, John Wilson Croker, and Mary Ann (Watts) Hughes; and writings by Scott, including The House of Aspen and The Talisman.

The collection contains letters, addresses, bill and receipts, printed material, and depositions relating to the 1768 Parliamentary elections in Middlesex and the mob violence at Brentford. The letters include routine patronage correspondence as well as items more specifically concerned with the Middlesex election riots, including descriptions of the hiring of gangs by both sides; informants' reports on "Wilkite" plots; and a proposal by Beauchamp-Proctor to John Glynn that they issue a joint declaration against mob violence.
Other documents include depositions concerning the riots; copies of addresses to the electors; detailed bills from Beauchamp-Proctor's agents for entertainments in taverns and inns, ribbons and favors, and transportation expenses; and two printed broadsides for Proctor's side.

The papers, most of which date from the lifetime of Sir William Lee, consist of personal and official correspondence, notes, memoranda, household accounts and financial papers, records of court cases, and other documents. Family correspondents include Lee's brothers Sir George and Thomas Lee; his brother-in-law, William Melmoth, and his son William. William's letters describe student life at Wadham College, Oxford and Clare College, Cambridge. Subsequent letters detail William's Grand Tour through continental Europe, with sojourns in Paris; several cities in Italy, including Rome; and at the imperial court of Austria-Hungary.
Other correspondents include Scroop Egerton, the Duke of Bridgewater; Sir Roger Drake; and Lord Hardwicke. Hardwicke's letters concern patronage, the Marriage Act of 1753, and the trials of the Jacobite rebels, including Lords Kilmarnock, Cromarty and Balmerino. Other subjects represented in Lee's correspondence includecounty politics and elections and local legal matters; news of Parliament and current events, including the Jacobite Rebellion and the War of the Austrian Succession; and medical remedies and receipts. There are also letters from prisoners asking for pardons or commutations, and from tenants concerning estate matters.

The papers contain correspondence, writings and notes, photographs, and newspaper clippings relating to Sister Bernetta Quinn's scholarly work on the poetry of Ezra Pound and other modern poets. Correspondents include Robert Bly, Guy Davenport, Caroline Gordon, James Laughlin, Denise Levertov, Robert Lowell, Mary de Rachewiltz, Olga Rudge, Holly Stevens, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren. Subjects include Sister Bernetta's scholarly work; writing and American poetry in general; conference and symposia plans; and personal news.
The Writings and Notes series contains notes and drafts on the Cantos by Sister Bernetta and typescripts of works by Robert Penn Warren, Robert Bly, and James Wright. Personal Papers includes photographs of Pound-related sites and persons in Brunnenberg and Venice.

The S. J. Sedgwick Collection consists of manuscript notes and drafts for several of S. J. Sedgwick's slide lectures on the West ("Big Trees and Yosemite Valley," "Central Pacific Railroad," "Indians," and "Monterey, California") and one on geology; the manuscript draft and later proofs of the 4th edition of "Announcement of Professor S. J. Sedgwick's Illustrated Course of Lectures and Catalogue of Stereoscopic Views of Scenery of ... the Rocky and Sierra Mountains...", produced by the Union Pacific Railroad Company; and a scrapbook documenting his work for George A. Crofutt, publisher of a series of western travel guides. There are also printed bills and advertisements for Sedgwick's lectures. Both woodcuts and printed maps are included in the collection.

Correspondence, writings, memorabilia by and relating to Romare Bearden; Augusta Bird Courtney; Frederick Douglass; Alexandre Dumas, père and fils; Paul Laurence Dunbar; Rudolph Dunbar; Elsie Taylor DuTrieuille; Jack Flodin; Mifflin Wistar Gibbs; Angelina W. Grimké; Georgia Douglas Johnson; Le Roi Jones; Alain LeRoy Locke; Edgar Mittelholzer; Arthur Alfonso Schomburg; George Samuel Schuyler; Harriet Beecher Stowe; Booker T. Washington; and Frank Yerby.

Collection contains correspondence, writings, and other papers documenting the life and work of Solange Clésinger-Sand. Correspondence consists of letters to and from Clésinger-Sand and third-party letters between family and others. Notable correspondents include the following friends, family, and family friends: Éduoard Bourdet, Alphonse Guérin, Amélie Grille de Beuzelin, Maurice Sand, Charles Poncy, Samuel Rocheblave, and Jules Troubat. Writings by Clésinger-Sand include complete manuscripts for the early "Les roses et une fauvette..." (1834), "Histoirettes pour les toute petits," and a travelogue entitled "Une visite à Charon", in addition to a number of drafts for incomplete projects, including a play ("Sélim"), a theatrical adaptation of the novel L'Uscoque by George Sand, and a novel ("Thora"). Other materials include artwork, clippings, financial and legal records, notebooks, photographs, and papers relating to property ("Villa Malgrétout") purchased by Clésinger-Sand. Photographs include portraits of Clésinger-Sand, her husband, sculptor Jean Baptiste Clésinger, and others.

The Solomon Sir Jones films consist of 29 silent black and white films documenting African-American communities in Oklahoma from 1924 to 1928. Jones filmed Oklahoma residents in their homes; during their social, school and church activities; in the businesses they owned; and performing various jobs. The films document several Oklahoma communities, including Muskogee, Okmulgee, Tulsa, Wewoka, Bristow and Taft. The films also document Jones's trips to Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, New York City, South Carolina, Colorado, and overseas to France, England, Palestine, Switzerland, Italy, Northern Africa, and Germany. Slates between scenes identify locations, dates, and subjects. The films measure 12,800 feet (355 min).