The collection consists of documents amassed by Roderick Mackenzie. Among the Masson manuscripts there are other series of letters; as well as journals kept by North-Westers and various business documents. Some of this material exists as originals; others are contemporary copies - the George Keith letters for example are contemporary copies on paper watermarked 1827. The collection also includes some duplicate texts - contemporary copies or later nineteenth-century copies that in some cases represent edited versions of the texts. Samuel Wilcocke's account of the death of Benjamin Frobisher exists in a draft original (or contemporary copy) and in a late nineteenth-century clean copy. Of course Benjamin Frobisher did not die in the dramatic circumstances as recorded by Wilcocke, but peacefully in Quebec City in 1821.
Fonds consists of many examples of Szyk's illustrations in the form of prints, commercially-reproduced illustrations, and drawing studies, as well as printed ephemera. Examples of Szyk's illustrations reproduced on commercial products or other items include postage stamps, posters, book jackets, and calendars. The fonds contains ephemera related to or containing Szyk illustrations, including newspaper clippings and issues of magazines featuring articles on Szyk or reproducing one of his designs. Box 10 contains original drawing studies, mostly for the Book of Esther. The fonds also contains materials related to an exhibition on Szyk at McGill University Library held in 1954.
Fonds consists of a notebook kept by Seymour when he served as mate on the H.M.S. Imperieuse during service on a China station. The notes give details about crew, sales, accommodations and watches, 1861-1862. Also included is a journal which Seymour kept on the Orontes during cruises in the Mediterranean and to Bermuda, Halifax and the West Indies, 1878-1879.
Fonds consists of a typescript of "An archaeological expedition to the ruins of Southern Tunisia and the Sahara," 1924. This work includes articles by Louise de Forest Shelton, Arnold M. Duff, and Byron de Prorok.
