The contents are as follows.

(i) Letters of Mary Carlyle Aitken and others to Frederick Martin, regarding his biography of Thomas Carlyle, 1877. (Folio 1.)

(ii) Poems, apparently in the early handwriting of Jane Welsh. (Folio 13.)

(iii) Copies of correspondence, 1821-1856, chiefly of letters of Jane Welsh and Emerson to Thomas Carlyle. (Folio 18.) Some of the letters of Jane Welsh are copied from originals placed in MS.2883.

(iv) Copies of letters of Oliver Cromwell, some made by Thomas and John Aitken Carlyle. (Folio 137.)

(v) Miscellaneous notes bearing on Carlyle's life, followed by newspaper cuttings, portraits, and views. (Folio 148.)

(vi) 'Thomas Carlyle: a biography', from the beginning to the first paragraph of Chapter III, 'Edinburgh'. (Folio 172.)

(vii) A portion of the biography relating to Carlyle's life at Annan, in the same hand as the above. (Folio 206.)

(viii) Another version, in other hands, starting from the beginning. (Folio 211). It was originally foliated 1-37, and is continued in MSS.2885-2888.