Henry Cockburn states in an introductory account of Francis Jeffrey`s career (Adv.MS.9.1.8) that, "While he [Jeffrey] was in London he wrote to me almost daily, and his letters are so excellent, and so illegible, that I have resolved to copy them..." (folio 3).

The letters are concerned mainly with political and official matters, particularly the drafting and passage of the Scottish Reform Bill, Municipal Corporations Bill, and other Scottish legislation and patronage. After Jeffrey`s elevation to the Bench (May 1834) the letters were written mostly during Jeffrey`s visits to London, and are concerned with his health, and general political, social, and legal affairs.

Passages in the volumes marked with pencil seem to have been intended by Cockburn for inclusion in his ‘Life of Lord Jeffrey’, as most of the passages were printed as extracts in the biography (volume I) or more fully in the selected correspondence (volume II); there are extensive comments in footnotes by Cockburn.