Longstaffe's papers consist of his typescript, with manuscript corrections, of a novel entitled The Twin Sisters: a Poem in Prose.

The fonds consists of a single 3-page manuscript letter document. Original laid paper watermarked '1805'. Letter is from John MacKellar, dated 16 June 1807. The letter is addressed to the Hon. George Cranfield Berkeley (1753-1818). MacKellar explains his strong reservations about establishing a prison hospital for sick prisoners of war. He warns of high expenses and inconvenience, using the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, hospital as an example of the expenses required.

Melville Island, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was formerly known as Kavanagh's Island and used to house French prisoners of war after 1793. The Chesapeake Affair happened six days after this letter was written in 1807 under the command of Admiral G. C. Berkeley.

The fonds documents John Mappin’s occupation as an independent antiquarian book seller, his personal interest in the history of print and Canadian politics, and his personal achievements as an author. The wide variety of subject files found in this collection are almost entirely North American based and span from 1733-2004. These records reflect Mappin’s particular focus on Canadian authors and Canadiana in general.

McDonald's correspondence, 1791-1860, mostly concerns business and property matters, but also includes personal correspondence. There are statements of account with McTavish, Frobisher & Co., 1799; with McTavish, Fraser & Co., 1803-1804; with McTavish, McGillivray & Co., 1808-1809. There are two volumes of autobiographical notes assembled in 1859 and covering the period 1791-1816.

There is a second copy of the autobiography, probably transcribed in the late 19th century. Written on the front fly leaf is the name: A.E. MacDonald. It has 63 leaves, and there are minor textual variants.

Fonds shows John McNaughton's activities as a medical student. It contains 3 lecture cards signed by or printed for the teachers. Among them are John Stephenson and W. Robertson.

The administrative records constitute the bulk of the collection; they include annual reports, and financial statements of John Millen & Co. and related firms, 1962-1972; quarter-monthly reports, 1956-1969; memoranda, 1961-1969; files concerning clients, products, sales, and inventory, 1960-1969; executive meetings, 1960; staff lists, 1955-1970; budgets, 1965; files on Exide & Oil Co. Sales, 1964-1968; file on Modern Sales Ltd., 1943-1970 and business correspondence, 1943-1972. Legal records consist of leases, 1963-1964; employee contract between S.B. Millen and John Millen & Son Ltd., 1968; correspondence, memoranda, and court cases, ca 1930-1936. Also included are reports and typescripts on the principles of management and sales, 1948, 1960-1969, as well as some newspaper clippings.

Fonds consists of an album of autograph letters and signatures, including letters both to and from Nichols. Correspondents include John Temple (26 November 1821) and Charles Burney Jr. (5 January 1809). Also represented in the fonds are Nichols's children John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863) and John Gough Nichols (1806-1873), including a letter to John Gough Nichols from Sir Henry Ellis (2 December 1842).

Nash's papers comprise original illustrations for Nouveau Poor by Belinda Blinders, edited by Desmond Cooke (1921), together with drawings for and letters concerning L.de G. Sieveking's Dressing Gowns and Glue (1921).

The fonds consists of John Percival Day's papers, specifically a notebook of course lectures for International Trade and at the back of the book, Additional Charters on Money and Banking in the USA. In between the two lectures is a lecture for the Graduate Studies Course B on World Economic Survey since 1919. In addition there are loose papers which amount to a bibliography of books and periodicals by John Percival Day, a poem "Owed to John Percival Day" written by presumably W.D. Woodhead, a list of names, a list referring to numbers, a blank form from the University Club of Montreal Dec. 1 1938, and a sheet of graph paper with lines drawn in pencil and ink.

The fonds document Humphrey's role in the United Nations, academic and professional activities as a McGill professor and advocate of human rights, both in Canada and internationally, mainly 1960-1995, and after his career at the United Nations.