Fonds documents a portion of the literary activities of Sir Andrew Macphail with the typescript of In Flanders Fields and Other Poems by Lieut.-Col. John McCrae M.D. with the Essay in Character by Sir Andrew Macphail, originally published in 1919. The typescript is accompanied by a signed letter from Macphail. The fonds also contains a letter from John McCrae while on active duty in France to Carleton Noyes, Cambridge, MA, with an envelope postmarked 31 May 1916. Enclosed with the letter is an autographed signed copy of McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields.

Fonds consists of manuscript essays spanning the years 1847-1903. They comprise his inaugural lecture on pericarditis, reminiscences of early days of the Medical Faculty, several discussions of homoeopathy, and papers on vaccination, the registration of the causes of death and other topics. Eleven volumes of his manuscript lectures "On women's medical problems" are also included.

Fonds comprises research notes, bibliographies, manuscripts, edited typescripts and proofs for In Caps and Gowns.