Fonds contains "The journal of an English lady; or letters descriptive of the continent during the years 1829 and 1830" to which have been added water-colour illustrations by the author.

Approximately half this material consists of letters, covering the years 1823-1837, from Andrew William Cochran, 1792-1849, civil secretary to the governors of Lower Canada from 1812 onwards, and a member of the Executive Council from 1827 to 1841. The remainder comprises a number of accounts of travels and exploration by North West Company employees, probably collected by McKenzie for his history. Included are Charles McKenzie's expeditions amongst the Otoe Missouria Tribe.; Edward Umfreville's journal of a canoe trip from Lake Superior to Portage de l'Isle 1784; accounts of the Alaskan Athabaskans, 1795 and 1805, George Keith's memoirs of the McKenzie River Department, 1807-1817; and George Henry Monk's of the Department of Fond du Lac or Mississippi, 1807; John McDonnell's account of the Red River, ca 1787; and John Johnston's of Lake Superior and a letter on the Indigenous communities of the northwest from Eneas McDonnell. Also included are letters written to McKenzie from Forks on the Mackenzie River by William Ferdinand Wentzel, 1807-1824.

Macdonell's papers comprise a journal for 1793-1795, which L.R. Masson entitled "Assinoboines-Rivière Qu'appelle", and an account of the Red River, approximately 1797.

This includes notes on a dictionary of Chinook Jargon (Chinook Wawa) extracted from a report of H-L. Langevin and a Frisian dictionary and grammar. There is also a volume of marriage certificates 1878-1880.

These fonds comprise 12 softbound manuscript volumes of lectures, plays, notes and ephemera by Oswald Hughes. The first manuscript is a lecture entitled: "Descriptive lecture on the Mail Route through Italy".

The fonds consists of records documenting William P. Wolfe's business activity as an antiquarian bookseller in Montreal with a focus on Canadiana, from primarily 1952 to 1985. There are also some scattered earlier materials. The fonds contains chiefly textual records, with one microfiche, one artifact, and a small amount of graphic materials, as well as printed matter. The records are mainly correspondence (letters received as well as copies of letters sent to contacts across Canada, the United States and Europe); there are also accompanying catalogues, auction records, receipts, inventory lists and newspaper clippings. Files are arranged alphabetically in two blocks: A-N and A-Z. Other records document the administration of Wolfe's company, including tax forms, bills, auction house receipts, auction house catalogues, receipts for office equipment, promotional materials from other businesses, newsletters and newspaper clippings. The fonds consists of the following series: Business Correspondence (1958-1984) and Financial Administration (1958-1985).

The fonds documents Swain's career at the Deputy Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, including his role in the standoff at Oka, Quebec, in 1990. One series also consists of research materials collected during the writing of Swain's 2010 books, Oka: A Political Crisis and its Legacy.

Consisting of documents detailing the 1785 travels and observations of Joseph Hadfield through the Northwest fur trade of North America and to Niagara Falls (probably written after 1810). Observations are primarily economic in nature; however, there are also references to the geographical and cultural surroundings.

Fonds documents Grant Woolmer's career as an antiquarian book dealer. The records include:

• Card File. 1954 – 1998, 628.5 cm of 3" x 5" (7.5 cm x 12.5 cm) index cards describing every book owned and sold by Grant Woolmer giving description and price. Over 30,000 cards.

• Catalogues. 1954 – 1998, 180 cm. Complete run of catalogues of Antique Book Shop, later Grant Woolmer Books. Over 400 different catalogues.

• Financial Records. 1954 – 1998, 250 cm. 6 ledgers giving daily income and disbursements; invoices, etc.

• Mailing list, undated, 5 cm. Some 200 names of institutions, dealers and private collectors mimeographed on 7 sheets.

• Newspaper clippings and ephemera. 1980 –1998, 5 cm. File consisting of clippings and articles relating to the antiquarian book trade, as well obituaries of antiquarian book dealers and collectors. About 200 items.

• Bates List Finder. 1980s – 1990s, 3 cm. Alphabetical telephone directory and addresses for frequently called numbers.