The David Hume Collection contains letters and other ephemera brought together from multiple acquisitions. The principal manuscripts are found in is the bound volume containing letters from David Hume to the Comtesse de Boufflers. There are also letters from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others for a total of 59 letters. This collection of letters was the basis for the anonymously edited Private Correspondence of David Hume with Several Distinguished Persons, Between the Years 1761 and 1776. Now First Published From the Originals. (London: Printed for Henry Colburn and Co., 1820.) One of the McGill copies of this book belonged to the Montreal lawyer and book collector Frederick Griffin (1798-1877). In addition to this volume there are eight other Hume letters. Some of these have been published by Professor Klibansky and Ernest C. Mosser in New Letters of David Hume. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954). Finally, there are photographic copies of Hume manuscripts held by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and typed copies of official letters on Canada from the manuscripts of Sir Mark Dalrymple.

The fonds consists primarily of written material, most of which seems to be from the hand of Palmer Cox (poems, speeches, drafts of published or unpublished works). There is also some graphic material, financial records and parts of correspondence.
The fonds also contains several graphic parts illustrating Brownies books in the making.

This manuscript is the final portion of a treatise on political economy. There are also prose stories and fragments.

2 albums of photographs by Notman, of the house, grounds, and stables at Ravenscrag.

The fonds consists of books and other materials about Black people in history and contemporary society which Roy States collected from his teenage years to the end of his life. The materials are primarily English-language works produced during his lifetime, and the majority of them are from Canada or the United States. The physically largest series within the collection (Series B, Monographs) consists of 679 published volumes, most of them books and a smaller number of them booklets. These volumes are all catalogued individually, with a common sublocation of "Roy States Collection" within Rare Books and Special Collections. The remaining series contain a diversity of published, ephemeral, and unpublished materials, including various items by or about Roy States himself. Series A is a group of biographical materials and other items which relate directly to States. Series C consists of booklets and brochures. Series D consists of complete issues of newspapers, and Series E consists of complete issues of serials other than newspapers. Series F contains an assortment of newspaper and magazine clippings, as well as reprinted or photocopied extracts from books, journals and other works. Series G contains materials relating to conferences and meetings, chiefly involving groups and organizations advocating for civil rights; the materials include programs, agendas, minutes and reports, as well as the text of various speeches presented at these events. Series H consists primarily of graphic materials which have been mounted in cardboard-and-plastic display sleeves or in glass-fronted wooden frames. Series I is a group of miscellaneous materials such as studies, reports, typescripts, bibliographies and leaflets.

This collection includes the original manuscript for his History of Canada as well as a large quantity of notes collected for the history.

Collection consists of Canadiana assembled by Charles Kadwell: Canadiana: or, A medley of sundry matters in print and manuscript, relating principally to the Canadas; (during the period of the rebel-lions;) the other British North American colonies; and the neighbouring United States; with views, maps, plans, portraits, &c. and private journals. 2 vol. Folio. Vol 1 includes "Remarks during a voyage from London to Montreal in the year 1832"; "Notes during a trip from Montreal to Upper Canada... 3rd-18th August 1838"; "Calendar of remarkable events relating to British North America and the United States". Mostly cuttings from newspapers. A pedigree of the Kadwell family has been inserted by L.G. Macdonald, Q.C., and annotated by Robert Howard. Vol. 2, mostly newspapers.

This is a typescript copy of Maybury's diary, covering the period 1856 to 1875, and treating of life in colonial Australia, including a journey to the gold fields.

Consists of manuscript titled: "The Biology of Winter".

Containing a significant amount of information concerning the latter years of Napoleon’s reign (ca. 1810-1815), this carton would be of particular interest to researchers interested in the Armistice at Pleswitz and the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Diplomatic dealings between Metternich and Caulaincourt are particularly heavily represented. The dense copies of diplomatic correspondence could be of considerable interest to researchers with a sharp focus on the day-to-day negotiations concerning Pleswitz and Fontainebleau.

In addition, Folder 17 contains an unpublished description of the post-Waterloo Hundred Days by Caulaincourt. Therein, Caulaincourt recounts a broad narrative from the defeat at Waterloo to the Bourbon Restoration, including important descriptions of the question of succession and of the final push made by the Allies to restore Louis XVIII to the throne.